The Order of the Elements
by Lumos Fabula
Summary: It is 1,500 years since Lloyd and his companions have reunited the worlds. A new threat has risen and it is now up to their descendants to keep the peace. LxC, SxZ, GxP, KxR, and lots of OCxOC Rating up bc of Zelos, since it's always his fault.
1. Chapter 1

**Tales of Symphonia: The Order of the Elements**

**A fanfiction by: Ethereal Thoughts**

****

_Hey, everyone, this is Ethereal Thoughts. Um, this is my first time trying to do a story with chapters in it and I can't figure out how to do chapters. groans So, anyways, please review, tell me how to divide my chapters, and enjoy!_

_Unfortunately, I do not own Tales of Symphonia. I do, however, own my characters._

PROLOGUE

It has been 1,500 years since the Reuniting of the Two Worlds by Lloyd Irving-Aurion and his companions. Symphonia has prospered extremely well since the germination of the Great Tree, named Yggdrassil, in honor of Martel and Mithos Yggdrassil. The Yggdrassil Tree would never run out of mana- more important to life than water- so long as there were no wars. To ensure that a war never happened, all the governments of the world signed an agreement that the only advancements allowed in magitechnology were advancements of transportation and home life. Any found researching the ancient magitechnology or researching the mythological exspheres and Summon Spirits were immediately put in prision. Also, the agreement stated that all governments would form a council- the Symphonium Council- to settle any disagreements and spats that governments might have between one another.

Of course, with the aging of the world comes the emergence of new species. Some of the new species that came to the earth were faeries, merpeople, pixies, sprites, centaurs, satyrs, and an assortment of others. However, with advancements comes discrimination. Any person with half blood in them were promptly sentenced to work as a laborer with little pay and no respect.

The half-bloods, nicknamed "Halflings," all becames bitter and hateful to their full-blooded counterparts. They retaliated quietly, asking for more respect and a little more pay. But when their plans didn't come to fruition, they formed a council and dubbed themselves the Order of the Elements. Hiding their bases, they declared war upon their discriminators.

With this proclaimation of war, monsters began appearing once again, as they hadn't appeared since the beginning of the Reign of Peace. This is the story of those who would seek to stop the world from being ripped asunder once again.

A young man with spiked chocolate brown hair sighed, finished with yet another battle. Closing his brown eyes, he muttered to himself, "It's time. I've got to go to Auzelle now." he glanced at the seal behind him. "After all, Origin disappeared a few days ago. That's a sure sign of trouble."

Calling forth a pair of elegant blue-green-red wings, he flew towards a village. He landed beside an elderly old man with greying black hair, intelligent green eyes in a pointed face, and extremely sharp, protrubent ears.

"Ah, Lord Lloyd, how goes it?" inquired the elder.

"I'm pretty certain that the Reign of Peace is drawing to a close now, James." Lloyd Irving-Aurion crossed his arms. "I'll have to go to Ozette- erm, Auzelle pretty soon."

"Ah." James nodded. "I understand. When you meet up with your descendant, please, tell them that all of them are welcome in Heimdall of the Elves."

"Sure thing, James. I'm gonna wait until I've got the absolute sign that it's time to go. Until then, I'll be training in the Forest, okay?" Lloyd decided.

"As you wish, Lord Lloyd." James nodded. "We will certainly miss your company."

"Eh, I'll come right back here, provided..." Lloyd shrugged. "I'll come back before I leave."

James bobbed his head as he waved at Lloyd, who took to the skies. His face became melancholy. "If only all good things didn't have to come to an end."

CHAPTER ONE

A girl sighed, aggravated. She tucked her wavy cerulean blue hair behind one ear that had been pierced multiple times. She _really_ wished that all these boys would stop interrupting her when she was trying to work. She closed her sea green eyes as she sat in a chair to attempt to relax.

"Hey! Yuna!"

The girl groaned. No such luck. She opened an eye, then closed it. "Oh, it's just you, Gale."

The spiky white-haired and green-eyed youth laughed. "Are your admirers annoying you again, Yuna?

"But of course. Like everyday I work. Want the usual?" Yuna asked.

"Nah." Gale sat on the countertop. "I came by because there's something I wanna show you. When do you get off?"

Yuna glanced at the clock. "In about five minutes."

"Then, I'll take the usual while I wait!" Gale grinned at her impudently.

Yuna playfully prushed Gale off the counter. "No one wants to sit where your butt's been, you dork!" Then she made him his usual.

Gale drooled. "Triple chocolate fudge chunk ice cream with fudge sauce and a cherry! Here I come!"

5 minutes later, they were out the door.

"So, where are we going?" Yuna asked as she broke out her leviboard. It was similar to a snowboard, except that it had small exaughst pipes on the end with a button to activate it. It used mana in the atmosphere to propel itself forward. It could turn on a dime, depending upon who was riding it.

Gale stepped onto his leviboard. He grinned, "Follow me, o fearless Yuna! You shall find out in due time!"

Yuna chuckled as the two took off. Gale could be so dorky sometimes.

Eventually they arrived at an old creepy house on the outskirts of their town, Aisaliya.

"Whoa. Gale, how did you find this?" Yuna stepped off her levibike, gaping.

"I've always known it was here. I found it when I was about 10." Gale motioned for her to follow him. "I've no idea how old it is. Must be at least 1,000 years old, if not more."

"Tell me about it! Look at how well-preserved it is! Unbelievable!" Yuna looked around the porch.

"Let's go inside." Gale suggested."

Yuna turned back the way they came. "Could you imagine that river being a little creek? See- it almost comes to the porch now." She fell silent. "Have I been here before? It's all a little familiar."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah- let's go inside." Gale opened the door. It gave a hideous squeak, long and drawn out.The two shivered as it ran up their spines.

Waling in, they spotted an old fire stove, a table, a bed, and an assortment of other things. There was also a flight of stairs that led upwards. Yuna walked up the stairs as Gale investigated the room.

It appeared to be someone's old room. Yuna noticed some picture frames on the desktop. Dusting them off, she looked at them.

There was a handsome young mand with brown hair and brown eyes, laughing as he hugged a young woman with long blonde hair and wide, innocent blue eyes from behind. Next was a picture of two siblings- an older woman with short white hair and blue eyes standing beside a young man with wild white hair and blue eyes. They grinned at the camera, laughing at Yuna. The woman held a staff with both her hands, as the young man had his arms crossed, a kendama in hand.

Following them was a handsome man with long violently red hair and green eyes, grinning as he clapped an older man on the back. The older man had ice blue hair and ice blue eyes. He had a small crease at the curves of his mouth. The picture beside their had a pair of young women posing. One was taller with ebony purple hair and tawny brown eyes. The other appeared to be coming into her height, with pink hair and sky blue eyes. Both smiled, showing their beauty.

The last photo contained an auburn-headed man with auburn eyes and a man with cerulean blue hair and green eyes. Both glared at the camera, as if hoping it would burst into flames, for taking their picture. Yuna had to stifle a giggle.

"**But,**" Yuna thought, "**that last man looks an awfully lot like me... This is a little strange.**"

She decided to take the pictures to do research on them. Maybe she could find out who this group of people was.As she was getting ready to leave, she noticed a statue of jade, in the form of a rose. For some strange reasong, Yuna felt compelled to pick it up and put it in her pocket.

Yuna went back downstairs, where Gale was waiting.

"Are you ready?" he asked, hand in pocket.

"Yeah. Let's go to my house for a while. Yuna replied.

The two got on their leviboards and sped away.

Yuna nor Gale lived with their families- Yuna was 18 and Gale was 19. However, they preferred to stay at Yuna's house because it was more furnished. Gale was still searching for a job.

The two revealed their spoils to each other.

"Look, I found these pictures." Yuna set them down on her table. "I'd like to see if I can find out who they are. And this little statue, too."

"Ooh, I found a little statue of a gnomelette, plus this old kendama." Gale began to flip it. "I'm a natural, aren't I?"

"Sure, whatever." Yuna laughed. "You've been playing with kendamas for as long as I've known you. But, look at this. Doesn't it look like the one in this picture?" Yuna motioned to the one of the two white-haired siblings.

"Well, it was probably his. Has my dashing good looks,too." Gale smirked.

Yuna laughed and gathered the pictures. "Let's see what the computer can turn up on them."

"Hello, Yuna! How was your day today?" the computer cheerily said to her as she sat in her chair.

"I've had a pretty good day so far, Putter. Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"But of course! That's what I'm here for- to make your life easier." Putter replied.

"Could you scan these pictures I've put on your board and do a search on them?"

"Sure. Just a moment, please." Putter replied. Then he flashed the names across his screen as he read them. "Okay, got it. In the order of the pictures presented to me. These people are none other than:

the Eternal Swordsman, Lloyd Irving-Aurion,

the Fair Lady, Chosen Colette Brunel,

the Crimson Rose, Professor Raine Sage,

the Warlock, Genis Sage,

the Gleaming Knight, Chosen Zelos Wilder,

the Noble, Duke Regal Bryant,

the Summoner, Chief Sheena Fujibayashi of Mizuho,

the Axman, Presea Combatir,

the Battle God, Kratos Aurion,

and the Righteous Seraph, Yuan Nebular.

"If you don't mind me asking, where in the world did you get those pictures!" Putter sputtered out.

"So, then, it's true." Yuna sat back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. "It is the old town of Iselia, where the Eternal Swordsman, Lloyd Irving-Aurion, the Fair Lady, Chosen Colette Brunel, and the Warlock, Genis Sage grew up and the Crimson Rose, Professor Raine Sage taught."

"How can you remember all that! You got in more trouble than me for daydreaming in class- at least I just goofed off and pulled pranks!" Gale's jaw went slack.

"Because I'm smart. Deal with it."

"Let's go back tomorrow. Let's see what else we can find out." Gale declared.

"Of course!" Yuna promptly agreed.

"All this is making my head spin. I'm gonna go before I lose it completely." Gale waved goodbye and left.

"Bye!" Yuna called after him. She returned to Putter and asked, "What else you got on them?"

That night, Yuna had a dream that she was examining a traveling group of people. They were heading towards the city of Pamycostas. She was watching a red-headed man, who carried a sword at his hip- Zelos Wilder. Her astral self carried her weapon of choice- the glaive. They occasionally had to fight bandits and monsters. As they reached the city, they wandered around, appreciating the work as it came along. The group of nine people stopped and gave a man some more gald. They even pitched in to help rebuild it for a few days. Eventually, they moved along to Luin, the Phoenix City. Zelos was conversing with Sheena before they had to go inside and discuss something with the whole group. As the group met in their hotel room, she awoke.

"I wonder what that one was about?" she muttered to herself.

"Good morning, Yuna!" Putter chirped.

The next day, the two returned to the house. They decided to check out what was behind the house this time. There, they found a grave. A man with auburn hair stood beside it.

The two inhaled sharply and the man turned to them sharply.

"Kratos Aurion!" they softly exclaimed.

"Yes?" he asked, hand on sword.

"No, we're just very surprised... After all, you were supposed to have died 1,500 years ago, along with the rest of the Eternal Swordsman's group." Yuna explained, clearly perplexed. "You're not a ghost, are you? Or am I just going crazy?"

"Not unless both of us are going crazy, lady." Gale muttered to her.

Kratos examined the two for a few moments before he replied, "Considering that I'm an Angel, it's hard for me to die."

The young people's eyes popped. "The history texts definitely left that part out." Gale coughed.

"So, it's been 1,500 years..." Kratos turned to the grave. "I wonder what became of everyone else..."

"Not to be harsh or anything," Gale pointed out quietly, "but they've probably gone to their eternal rest, granted that they were the God and Goddess' favored."

"Hmm. Perhaps. We'll see." Kratos turned to the young people. "Putting all that aside, what are the two of you doing, trespassing here?"

The two glanced at each other. "Ummm..."

Gale said in a rush, "I've wanted to get in this place since I found it and Yuna agreed to explore it with me- it was just normal adolescent curiousity!"

"I suppose I could forgive you for that." Kratos bowed his head a little to hid a small smirk. "However..."

The two stiffened.

"I want you to catch me up on the history of the world for the past 1500 years." Kratos approached them.

"Sure. Let's go to my place." Yuna agreed. "Gale, your leviboard's bigger. Let him ride with you."

Gale threw her a dirty look. "Fine. Let's go back around the front of the house so we don't disturb this person's rest." He crossed his heart and kissed his thumb.

"That's Anna. She was Lloyd's mother." Kratos looked back at the grave, hurt evident in his eyes.

Yuna noticed this. "You must have really loved her."

Kratos examined Yuna for a moment, then softly said, "Yes. She was one of the most important people to me. Now, everyone else important to me has died as well. Sometimes I think the gods must have cursed the day I was born."

"Not a happy camper, I see." Gale muttered, nearly inaudibly.

Kratos threw him a hard look. "Just think how you'd feel if Yuna were to die. Or your family."

Fale stiffened, but didn't reply. He just stepped on his leviboard and bit out, "Get on."

"Gale-" Yuna started.

"Don't worry about it, Yuna." Gale shrugged with a grin. "After all, I'm not a happy camper sometimes."

With that, he sped off, Yuna on his trail.

At Yuna's house, Yuna introduced Kratos to the computer as Gale made dinner.

Kratos read and listened to the computer as Gale and Yuna conversed over their dinner. Afterwards, the two cleaned the dishes and Gale made to leave.

"Gale, do you-" Yuna began, but Gale broke in, "I just need some down time. I'll see ya tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Alright. Later." Yuna let him go. Gale grinned at her and sped away.

"Did I say something to unsettle him?" Kratos inquired as Putter paused momentarily.

Yuna stood in the doorway of Putter's room. She sighed. "I don't know if Gale will kill me for telling you this, but... He **did **lose his family.

Kratos cooly nodded, turning to Yuna. "I see. I have erred him greatly. How?"

Yuna shook her head. "He won't tell me- and I'm his best friend."

"I see." Kratos repeated. Then, his attention returned to Putter. "I'm sorry, Putter, please continue."

"Sure thing, Kratos! Now, in year 852 of the Reign of Peace..." Putter resumed his lecture.

Yuna remained in the doorway for a few more moments, then left to take a shower and go to sleep.

Once again, Yuna had a dream.

**Dream**

**Yuna held the jade rose in her right hand and admired it. There was a sudden crackling noise as the rose came to life and entwined itself around the upper part of her right arm, The rose became a tattoo, sinking into her, becoming the colors of jade green and ruby red. Yuna was completely baffled. "**_What's happening?"_

**A jade green sihouette appeared in front of her. It appeared to be feminine, judging by the curves. **

_"Who are you?"_** Yuna asked, shielding her eyes.**

_"For answers, come to Auzelle. Seek out those from the Past and those who are the Future. Then, everything shall be revealed."_** the figure replied, fading away.**

_"Wait! Tell me more! How will I know them?"_** Yuna called, attempting to grasp the fading jade light.**

_"You will know them when you see them."_** the figure's voice was nothing more than a wisp of wind.**

**Then, everything began to darken.**

**End Dream**

_Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! Please, review and, once again, tell me how to take care of chapters!_

_Ethereal Thoughts_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to those of you who reviewed! Ireally appreciated it. Yes, I know it took a while for me to update, but I'll try to do better about that.;;;;_

_**Axgirl12**: Okay, I decided to accept character profiles, so I'll post that at the end. Thanks again for the idea!_

Disclaimer: I dont' own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, I wouldn't be here, writing this story.

CHAPTER TWO

"Yuna! Hey, Yuna! Wake up!" Gale howled.

Yuna woke up, adrenaline rushing through her veins. "What's up? What's goin' on?"

"I have a tattoo of a gnomelette!" Gale wailed, revealing the tattoo behind his left ear.

Yuna stifled a laugh.

"Plus, this big sphere-thingy with some sort of box on it's head told me to go to Auzelle! What's the deal?" Gale plopped onto Yuna's bed, rubbing his hair in frustration.

Yuna froze at that. She glanced at her arm. Sure enough, there was the rose. "Same here, except it's a rose tattoo and the thingy was more human-like."

"Then we should go to Auzelle." Kratos stood in the doorway. "And, Gale, I would like to apologize-"

"No need to. It's all done and forgotten!" Gale grinned. "So, when should we leave?"

"Do the two of you have weapons with which to fight?" Kratos inquired.

"I fight with the glaive and Gale uses a kendama." Yuna replied.

"Then pack and get ready. We leave today. By noontime." Kratos decided. "Oh, do either of you have another... leviboard?"

"Sure. Let's get you a change of clothes, too. Not that those look bad or anything," Yuna motioned to Kratos' Judgement outfit, "But you need clothes with the times."

"I don't think we're gonna leave by noon, then." Gale sighed. "This could take a while. Yuna and me need armor, Kratos needs new clothes, plus we need to get supplies."

"Whatever, we'll try to work fast." Yuna unearthed a leviboard. "Do you have the gist of how to use it, Kratos?"

"You find your balance and lean in the direction to go, correct?" Kratos experimentally stepped on and depressed the button with his heel. He made it a few feet forward before the board sputtered and died, pitching him forward.

"And a new leviboard!" Yuna added to their list.

"Then let's get started!" Gale suggested, "I'll take Kratos to the Flying Clouds shop to get the leviboard while you pack. We'll meet up at Aumenican Dresssings, where you can get him his outfit while I pack. Then, we meet in the Armor department in Dressings, and then get supplies. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Let's get a move on!" Yuna began searching for some clothes and a bag.

"Where is that girl?" Gale, aggravated, tapped his foot impatiently.

Kratos cocked his head a little. "What's that rumbling sound?"

"Gale! Kratos! Help!"

Yuna was running as fast as she could, weaving in and out of the crowd, towards the two. Behind her, a group of teenage boys were bulldozing through the crowd in order to get to her. All of them carried flowers or chocolates, proclaiming their love for her.

"Oh,_ brother._" Gale clapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head.

Ducking behind Gale and Kratos, Yuna attempted to make herself as small as she could with her large bag of clothes, her leviboard, and her tall glaive, blades bound in cloth and strapped to the leviboard. As the boys began to protest, Kratos threw them a dangerous look. They momentarily froze in shock before taking off in the direction they had come from.

"Anything else?" Kratos asked, turning to the cerulean haired girl.

"Um, nope!" Yuna sheepishly grinned at him. "Now, let's get started!"

"Then I'll see you guys later." Gale dashed to an area devoid of people and zoomed away on the 'board.

Yuna turned to Kratos and said, "Are you ready?" She giggled to herself.

Kratos sighed and muttered, "Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

After a few minutes of searching, Yuna found an outfit. Similar to his Judgement outfit, it consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt with buckles down the arms and straps crossing across his shirt. A pair of navy blue breeches tucked into black boots that were buckled as well. The breeches had large pockets and straps hung around his hips and waist. He was able to get a large black cape with buckles for cold weather and sleeping.

Yuna applauded herself. "Oh, I'm just too good! I must congradulate myself!"

Yuna decided to get a navy blue sundress with spaghetti straps. Around the waist, silver ribbons interlaced and tied together slits that went down the side. She wore a pair of tan leggings that reached to mid-thigh under the dress with knee-length navy blue boots. A cape of midnight blue with silver ribbons tying it together went along with the outfit.

When Gale showed up, he was wearing a light green shirt over a dark green long-sleeved shirt and tan breeches with tan boots. Straps wrapped around the shirt and on the boots. He wore a dark green cape and had his bag on his back, leviboard in hand.

"Where's your kendama?" Kratos inquired.

Gale drew out a kendama from a strap on his jeans. "Right here, right where I can get to it."

Kratos nodded approvingly. With that, they went to get their armor and supplies. By 11:45, they were on their way.

Since Auzelle was about one hundred miles away, they reached the small city by 6:00 that evening. The trio would have to periodically stop and stretch their legs and rest the leviboards. The boards could only take so much action at a time before they overheated.

The threesome decided to get a room at an inn. Afterwards, they explored some of the town. Since it was evening time, most of the shops were getting ready to close.

"Let's go back to the inn and have dinner." Kratos suggested. "We can continue searching for clues tomorrow."

"Okay." Gale agreed.

Yuna didn't say a word. She merely stared off into the distance as she followed the two back to the inn.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Kratos inquired to Gale.

"She's daydreaming again." Gale shrugged. "It's kinda complicated to explain."

"She's daydreaming. What's so complicated about that?" Kratos crossed his arms.

"I think you'll see soon enough." Gale hinted.

Halfway through dinner, Yuna gave a start. Looking at the spoonful of soup that was halfway to her mouth, she blinked. "Wait a second... Weren't we at the market?"

Neither man batted an eye. Kratos informed her, "Apparently, you were daydreaming."

"Oh..." Yuna smacked herself in the forehead. "I should've known that. Duh!" Then she quickly began to eat again.

"What was your daydream about this time?" Gale eagerly asked, tearing a chunk of bread off to dunk in his soup. "That last one was really funny."

"What, the one with all those people being attacked by those teddy bears? And all those humongous animals?" Yuna grinned. "Oh, and the bunny rabbits especially were evil."

Kratos' mouth twitched slightly. "That sounds familiar." he wryly muttered to himself.

"Did you say something, Kratos?" Gale said off-handedly, eating some more.

"Oh, no. Nothing. Anyways, what was this one about?"

"This one was really serious." Yuna's brows knit together. "How did it go?"

**Flashback**

**Yuna was watching a group of people. They all seemed to be from the Eternal Swordsman's group. Yet, for a group that brought peace to the world, they were having a pretty heated debate.**

"We must _all_ take different paths!"** Yuan, the cerulean-haired seraph, insisted.**

"Why!"** demanded Lloyd, dressed in vibrant red. **"Half the reason I saved the two worlds was so that Colette and I could live in happiness- _together!"_

"I understand that, but..."** Yuan sighed,** "When Kratos comes back, I can tell you right now, there _will_ be trouble. There _must_ be people descended from us to prevent destroying our peace."

**There was silence throughout the room as everyone considered this.**

"He speaks sense."** muttered Presea, the pink-haired woman. **"There should be a person of our individual lineage and qualities after us."

**Genis, the white-haired teenager, burst out, **"But how do you know for _sure_ that there's going to be trouble! Besides, won't you, Colette, and Lloyd, at the least, still be alive since you're all _angels_!"

**Yuan shook his head. **"I'm afraid I cannot answer that question. Besides, just because we're all angels doesn't mean anything. We can still die at any given time. I would have hoped the journy you all underwent would have shown you that."

"And since we all had our exspheres removed, we shouldn't live longer due to that. Our life spans will probably go back to normal now. Although, considering the fact that we used ours at an alarming rate, the side effects are still too unpredictable to say anything for sure."**Raine, Genis' sister intoned, stroking her chin.**

"So, are we all in agreement?" **Yuan crossed his arms.**

**The group glanced at each other. After a long moment of deliberation, they all nodded their heads in agreement.**

Now, we need to decide what summon spirits we're going to watch over. I shall go to Flanoir."** Yuan determined, **"to guard over Celsius."

"I suppose the fact that we must watch the summon spirits is tied in with that question you won't anwer."** Genis grumbled.** "I'll stay with Sylph."

"I'll stay with Origin in Heimdall."** Lloyd's shoulders sagged as he gave in.**

"I'll take Volt and Efreet."** The ebony headed woman, Sheena, stated. **"They're not too far from Mizuho."

"I'll keep an eye on Aska and Luna. They're pretty close to Meltokio now." **Zelos, the red-headed Chosen, declared.**

**Colette, the clumsy blonde Chosen, volunteered,** "I'll go to Iselia- Gnome's over in that area now."

**Presea glanced at the floor.** "I'll stay with Shadow.

"Then, I'll watch Undine."** Regal crossed his arms. **"Thankfully, she's close to Altamira."

"What about you, Raine?"** Genis turned his sea blue eyes reproachfully on his older sister.**

**Raine gave him a small smile.** "I've heard there's more summon spirits out there. I think I'll go and search for them."

"Then, we all leave in one week." **Yuan decided.** "I hope that more than enough time for you guys."

**Everyone nodded glumly. They split up into groups of two to talk. Lloyd and Colette went off, while Zelos and Sheena left them. Genis and Presea ventured off by themselves, leaving Yuan, Regal, and Raine by themselves.**

"Yuan, you're forcing them to leave the ones they love, you know."** Regal quietly said, turning to the seraph.**

**Yuan held up a hand as he glanced away, brows knit as he closed his eyes.** "I know. Please, don't make me out to be the bad guy. If you were in my position, there is no doubt in my mind that you would be acting in the same way."** Yuan turned to walk off. **"I would hope you would know me better than that."

**Regal turned to Raine.** "What about you?"

**Raine was silent, eyes closed. When she opened them, pain was evident in her deep ocean blue eyes.** "He's already far beyond my reach."

"Would you like to talk about it?"** Regal offered. **

"Thank you, but no. I'll manage." **Raine went out the door.**

**Regal sighed. Now everyone would truly be alone. It was almost too much to bear, but they were strong. Everyone would come through it, for better or for worse.**

**End Flashback**

Kratos' face remained impassive as Yuna finished.

"Wow, that one wasn't any fun at all." Gale acrobatically began to juggle random objects.

"Yuna, what do you think these 'daydreams' are?" Kratos leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"I don't know." Yuna shrugged. "I've been getting them for as long as I can remember."

Kratos was silent, then looked at her. "I think you are seeing events of the past."

Dndndn! lol Okay, so as promised, here are the stats I need if you would like to be in this story. I will accept the first three profiles for different descendants, okay?

Name:

Age: (preferably older than 16 and younger than 30)

Ancestor: Excluding Genis and Yuan. Kratos and Lloyd will not have separate descendants.

Weapon:

Fighting Style: (Magic, martial arts, etc)

Summon Spirit: (If you do Luna or Aska, could you please have a twin? ;;;;)

Personality: (I would prefer that the personality be similar to that of the Summon Spirit- just makes it easier on me to write the story.)

Appearance: (If you have a picture, you may send me a link, please.)

Bloodline: (i.e. Human/Elf/Faery)

Just as a note, I will probably end up making Zelos' descendant get together with my character, Yuna, so make sure you're cool with that if you decide to make Zelos your ancestor.

Okay, I realize it seems like I've asked for a lot, but I've already written a good bit of the story with my own characters. This is all just so that I can keep it as close to what I've already written as possible.

Thanks to those of you who send in the profiles and keep reading! Please review!

Ethereal Thoughts


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, everyone! Thanks for following the story and definitely thanks to:_

_Axgirl12_

_Forceuser3 the Jedi Master_

_and DarkLight3_

_for submitting characters! I've been working on chapter three all last night and this morning, so I hope it turned out well! Please review!_

_Oh ya, I don't own Tales of Symphonia. The results would be very drastic indeed._

**CHAPTER THREE**

Yuna goggled at Kratos. "What makes you say that?"

"You are actually describing everyone's actions to a 'T' though you have never met them before." Kratos stated. "Besides, if Yuan was able to see the future, why not his descendant see the past?"

Yuna went from goggling at Kratos to shocked. "Okay, seriously, how did you get _that_?"

"You look like him." Kratos said simply, then added, "Also, look at your names- If you switch the 'n' and the 'a' you get Yuan."

"Didn't you move from Phalneyr anyways? Wasn't that the city that used to be Flanoir?" Gale added from the kitchen. There was a sudden crash and Gale blurted out, "Holy cruxis!"

Yuna and Kratos glanced at the kitchen. "What happened?" Yuna asked, getting up.

"Um, I just dropped a knife because the window just suddenly blew itself open." Gale stuck his head back in the doorway.

"Are you okay?" Kratos asked calmly.

"Yeah, I'm totally unharmed!" Gale reassured them. "I thought I saw some sort of a shadow, but it must just be my imagination."

"Okay..." Yuna returned to the table and directed at Kratos, "Well, if I'm Yuan's descendant, then who's Gale descended from?"

Kratos shrugged.

"Helpful." Yuna glowered at him.

A few days had passed and the trio had still not found a lead as to why they were in Auzelle.

Yuna was examining a statue of one of the mythological summon spirits when the hairs on the back of her neck rose She fought the urge to spin around and see who it was spying on her. Instead, she casually looked around to see where her companions had gone off to..

Her eyes were immediately drawn to a young man wearing a short-sleeved red shirt with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath. A pair of swords hung at his hips, the belts over navy blue breeches that tucked into red boots. His brown hair was spiked and his brown eyes caught hers.

Yuna inhaled sharply. This man looked like Kratos- it had to be the Hero, Lloyd Irving-Aurion!

He made his way to her, a normal person in the crowd. When he reached her, he grinned at her, carefree. "Hello."

Yuna looked at him curiously. "Um, hi? Can I help you?"

"We both know you know who I am. That being the case, you must obviously know one of my old companions. Could you please tell me your name and who you're here with?" Lloyd inquired.

"I'm Yuna Sounsa." Yuna answered. "I'm here with my best friend, Gale Saveri, and Kratos Aurion is here as well."

Lloyd gave a start. "Dad's here!"

Yuna nodded patiently.

"Where is he?" Lloyd eagerly asked.

"Um, right behind you." Yuna pointed over the tall Hero's shoulder.

Lloyd whirled around to see Kratos coming through the crowd. When he spotted Lloyd, he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide. "Lloyd?" he mouthed. "You're _alive_?"

"It's pretty hard to get rid of me, Dad." Lloyd shrugged, grinning.

Kratos made his way forward once more and the two embraced.

"Hey! What's goin' on?" Gale reappeared, flinging his arms around Yuna's shoulders from behind her.

"Gale! You ruined the moment!" Yuna turned to face him and she raised an eyebrow. "Is that Genis Sage and _what_ in Symphonia's name are you wearing on your head?"

"Yes, it is Genis Sage and, apparently, it's a great big, colorful jester hat!" Gale chirped.

Genis was now a tall young man with short, disarrayed white hair and crystal blue eyes. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with black cargo breeches and black boots. Over this he wore a light blue short-sleeved tunic with silver fastenings. His kendama was barely noticeable in an oversized pocket.

"Lloyd! Kratos!" Genis exclaimed in a bass voice, "You're back!" He joined their hug.

"Genis!" Lloyd playfully gave his friend a noogie. Genis protested rather loudly.

"I see some things never change." commented Kratos, with a small grin.

"Whoa." Gale gaped. "Kratos _grinned_! I've _never_ seen him do that!"

"That's just because you haven't known him long enough," Genis responded, rolling his eyes.

"So, have you two seen anyone else?" Kratos asked Genis and Lloyd.

"No, not yet." Lloyd shook his head. Genis glanced over his shoulder.

"I think I see a person that looks suspiciously like Zelos." Genis jerked his thumb over his shoulder, behind him.

Two redheads strolled through the crowd, approaching the five-some. One was grinning like an idiot and the other looked at them with a small crease at the corner of his mouth,

Zelos, who was grinning broadly, had changed his outfit. He now wore his hair in a braid to his shoulders, though some strands still swept over his left eye. He wore a tight black muscle shirt with a red vest. He wore red armguards and black armwarmers underneath. He also ahd tan breeches tucking into tan boots trimmed with black.

"Hey, Lloyd, my buddy! How's it hangin'?" Zelos greeted, hugging him. "And Genis! And even Kratos is back! Just one happy family!"

"Which is very wonderful, but who are these other people?" the other redhead asked.

He had spiked red hair with sea-green eyes. He wore a tight black mockneck shirt with black armwarmers. He wore tan breeches and tan boots. He did, however, have a tattoo barely visible under the left sleeve of his shirt- it was a golden sardonyx series of lightening bolts. Across his torso ran a brown strap that secured the sheath to a sword a good hand's length wide.

"I'm Gale Saveri." Gale grinned at them goofily, jester hat flopping around,

"That leaves this beautiful Sapphire. Might I have your name, lady of the lake?" Zelos kissed Yuna's hand.

Yuna flushed and replied with a smile, "I'm Yuna Sounsa."

She briefly heard Genis and Gale mutter, "Oh, brother."

"Allow me to introduce you to my, if I may say so myself, dashingly handsome descendant, Zenos Wylder." Zelos introduced him to the group, throwing an arm around Zenos' shoulder, who was rolling his eyes. "Spitting image of me, eh?"

Gale's stomach suddenly rumbled. He gave a sheepish grin and asked, "Anyone else positively starving?"

Everyone glanced at one another and more or less agreed.

"My treat!" Zelos sang out. "Lead the way to a magnificent restaurant that can match my good tastes and I shall pay!"

Yuna smirked, "I'm gonna make you eat those words. Follow me!"

She led the group to a restaurant called "The Harmonic Horizons." It was an ornate building, looking ancient with its very curved decorations.

Yuna hugged a young man with bright blue hair and black eyes, "Hey, Lee! How's life?"

"Yuna! It's been a while!" He hugged her back, then noticed her escort. "Whoa, _bodyguards_?"

"You wish! These are my friends. I think you should remember Gale." Yuna stepped back.

"Oh, yeah, I remember him. How's it goin'?" Lee shook Gale's hand.

"Pretty good, Lee." Gale grinned at him.

"Anyways, I thought I'd better let them have some of Mom's world famous cooking before we leave town." Yuna added to Lee.

"Go in the family room- there's a little group already in there, but there's more than enough room!" Lee said, "You know where everything is."

"Thanks, cuz." She gave him a peck on the cheek and showed the group to the family room.

There was a group of six people in the room already. Two looked like twins, younger than Yuna- around 16. The girl had golden blonde hair with red tips and crystal blue eyes. She wore a red dress with a gold sash hanging just above her hips. Her bangs were held back with a golden headband and her feet bore black boots. A tall staff leaned against the wall behind her. The boy had golden blonde hair as well, that looked like it had been in a whirlwind, as well as the same crystal blue eyes. He wore denim jeans, a novelty in the recent world of clothing, and an ocean blue hoodie over a white long sleeved shirt. He also boasted black boots. He had a sword buckled around his chair.

Two men sat with them. Both had ice blue hair and sky blue eyes. One was taller and better built, wearing a tight white shirt with tan cargo jeans, shinguards, and heavy tan boots.

"Regal! Good to see ya, buddy!" Zelos cheered, hugging his old friend. "And who 're these other people?"

Zelos motioned to the other blue-haired man who was slightly less shorter and not as defined in the body. He was definitely older, though, being around 24. He wore a navy blue shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt and navy blue jeans with black boots. His blue hair was determinded messy but short. An aquamarine trident was on his middle left knuckle.

"This is my heir, Rory Bryant." Regal said.

"How do you do?" Rory inclined his head politely.

"The twins are the Draseel twins, Miralle and Roelle. And this is Robyn Saleri and Lucas Iring." Regal added, motioning to the last two poeple.

Robyn Saleri was a young woman, around 23, with long, elegant snow-white hair and emerald green eyes. She wore a green tunic over a tan long-sleeved shirt. The tunic laced up in the back with white ribbons. She also had tan breeches and green boots. She acknowledged the group with a carefree smile, chakrams hanging down her chair on a chain.

Lucas Iring regared the group with a collected air. He had spiked chocolate brown hair tipped with gold and bright mahogany eyes. He wore a brown long-sleeved shirt that was ripped in placed down the sides of his sleeves. Buttons held the complicated shirt together, pieces going over other pieces. He also wore tan breeches with brown boots. A black strap ran across his chair, securing a long sword in place. A tatoo of a sword, outlined in black, ran down his right index finger He nodded at them.

Lloyd sat down beside Lucas. "I suppose you're my descendant, then, eh?"

Lucas scooted over to make room for him. "I suppose I am."

"Wow, he's more like Kratos than you, Lloyd." Genis commented rather loudly.

"Shut up!" Lloyd retorted to his friend.

Genis ignored this and decided, "Well, I think Gale's my descendant. He looks like me and uses a kendama and everything..." Genis trailed off as Gale started to juggle cups filled with water, much to Miralle's amusement.

"That's so cool!" Miralle giggled.

"Don't you worry about spilling that?" Roelle commented, amused.

Genis placed his head in his hands and sadly shook it.

Yuna laughed and introductions went around the room.

"Ha! I told you Zelos would eat those words!" Gale gloated to the stuffed group as they emerged into the evening.

"Um, Gale? _I_ said that." Yuna sighed, stifling a yawn.

"Aw, my little Sapphire is sleepy!" Zelos cooed, "Let's go back to the hotel, get rooms, and decide sleeping arrangements! I, of course, will sleep with my little Sapphire and my dashingly handsome descendant."

"Oh, brother." Genis shook his head.

"I'm gonna stay in the same room as Yuna!" Gale declared.

An argument insued and Yuna groaned.

In the end, Kratos, Lloyd, Genis, and Regal shared a room, Rory, Lucas, and Robyn shared a room, and Miralle and Roelle were able to get their own room. Therefore, Yuna was stuck withZelos, Zenos, and Gale. They had agreed not to go out until everyone met in the lobby at 9:00 the following morning to search again.

Yuna left the guys, talking and debating heatedly about different magic attacks, to take a shower. When she returned, Zelos and Gale were snoring uproariously. Zenos was attempting to block them out by smothering his ears with his pillows. Yuna stifled a laugh and rifled through her belongings. She tossed him a spare pair of ear plugs. He caught them out of reflex and looked at them. He looked at her curiously, then shrugged and put them in. The redhead gave a happy sigh, mouthed, "Thank you," and went to sleep.

Yuna smiled. She plugged in her pair, then snuggled under her covers.


	4. Chapter 4

_Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!_

_Thanks especially to **DarkLightZERO,** who proof-read this for me!_

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter Four**

Over the next few days, more and more people joined their ever-growing group.

"_Raine!_" exclaimed Genis. A woman with sapphire blue eyes and silvery white hair turned towards him. Her hair went to her shoulder blades and flared out at the ends. She wore a yellow tunic over a white long sleeved shirt and a black skirt with white boots. The tunic crossed her torso in the manner of an "X" and she held a rather elegant staff in her hand.

"Genis!" she smiled at her brother, who rushed to her and hugged her as he twirled her. "Look at how much you've grown!"

"Better believe it! I think you might find it harder to punish me!" Genis grinned broadly at his sister as he looked down at her. She was now shorter than him by at least three inches. Raine crossed her arms across her chest and dangerously suggested, "Wanna find out?"

Genis took a step back into Lloyd, who had come to join the two siblings. Genis and him had been inseparable since they had reunited. The threesome was joined by Robyn, Gale, and Lucas.

"Lloyd! You're still here, as well?" Raine allowed her student to hug him.

"Of course, Professor!" Lloyd cooly flicked his hair. "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

Raine promptly smacked him.

"What was that for!" Lloyd demanded, rubbing his offended arm.

"You've not been in my presence for five minutes and yet you've already managed to irritate me. You're really quite amazing, Lloyd." Raine commented. "Now, who're these other people?"

"I'm Lucas Iring. I'm Lloyd's descendant." Lucas politely inclined his head to Raine.

"I'm Gale Saveri, Genis' descendant." Gale grinned, clapping an arm around Genis' shoulders. Genis, once again, placed his head in his hand and shook it sadly.

"And I'm Robyn Saleri. I suppose I'm of your bloodline, then." Robyn said, her mouth creased.

Raine regarded her. "Hmm. Yes, I suppose you are. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

She returned her attention to Lloyd and Genis. "What about you two? Have you met up with anyone else?"

"Well..." Genis drew out his baritone voice and said, "Zelos and Regal are here with their heirs, Zenos and Rory."

"And there's Yuna, Yuan's descendant, and Dad- er, Kratos-Dad. Dirk-Dad passed away about 1,000 years ago." Lloyd stated.

"You'll have to show us where he's buried so we can pay our respects..." Raine softly said, then blinked. "Wait, did you say that _Kratos_ was here?"

Lloyd nodded.

"He's back?" she softly asked.

Genis nodded with Lloyd this time.

"Well, where is he? I've got a piece of my mind to give him!" Raine huffed.

"Who are you going to give a piece of your mind to?" a baritone voice said in her ear.

Raine stifled a shriek and exclaimed, "Kratos! Wh- where did you come from? You startled me..."

Kratos gave a small grin. "Maybe we should talk later. I feel we've much to catch up on, but right now..."

"Colette!" Lloyd ecstatically cried, sweeping the blonde woman up in his arms. She had bright blue eyes and she was wearing a pink dress. It was girdled at her hips with a dark red ribbon and fell to slightly past her mid-thigh.. Its sleeves covered her shoulders, like a tank top. She had pink boots as well, extending up to her knees. She also wore pink armwarmers. Her hair was plaited in two, secured by a dark red ribbon in each.

"Lloyd!" she breathed into his ear, hugging him tightly to her.

Genis was momentarily dumbfounded before exclaiming, "Presea!"

He embraced a young woman with strawberry pink hair and sky blue eyes. Her hair was plaited in one braid, secured with a dark blue ribbon. She wore a dark blue tank top with a denim skirt and a pair of knee-length dark blue boots. She also had some gloves that reached to her elbows.

"Genis! It's you!" she returned his enthusiastic hug.

Yuna appeared from behind the embracing couples and Gale promptly picked her up and twirled her around, planting kisses on her cheek. "Oh, Yuna! I _looooooveeeeeeee_ yooooooouuuu!" he trilled.

"Gale!" she spluttered with laughter. "Stoppit! Lemme down!"

"As you wish, oh Queen of my heart!" Gale put her down on the ground and dodged Yuna's playful punch. "You're a dork, you know."

"Takes one to know one!" Gale retaliated singsongly. He got a punch that time on the arm.

"Yuna's abusive! I want her sued!" Gale ruefully rubbed his arm.

The solemn moment broken, everyone laughed at Gale's antics. Introductions went around and Yuna took them to her family's resturant again. There, they, of course, met up with none other than Zelos, Zenos, Rory, Regal, and five other people.

"Oh, there you are, Caleb!" Colette approached a young man of about 19. "Everyone, this is my heir, Caleb Runil."

Caleb stood and shook Lloyd's hand. He regarded the others with serious chocolate brown eyes. He had curly blonde hair and wore an attire of almost all black. He wore a dark green vest over a black shirt with ebony black armguards and midnight black breeches. He also had black boots. A forest green strap secured a quiver of arrows and a bow to the back of his chair. A small amethyst tattoo of a man in robes with his head bowed and hands clasped together was barely perceptible on the nape of his neck. "It's nice to make your acquaintance." Caleb said in a deep voice.

"And this is my descendant, Antony Comeer." Presea motioned to a young man around the age of 16. He stood, revealing himself to be easily as tall as Kratos was. He had light red hair with onyx black eyes that reflected no emotion at all. He had a long green tunic with green trousers that tucked into his brown boots. A black belt secured his short sword to his side, along with brown gloves that he had removed for his meal. His arms were crossed and a snowflake tattoo of sapphire was on his middle right knuckle. On the back of his chair, an emerald green cloak trailed down the back. He acknowledged the newcomers in the room with a nod.

"Sheena! You made it!" Colette hugged a woman with ebony purple hair and tawny brown eyes. She wore a purple bodysuit with a deep red girdle and black boots. Her hair was up in a bun, secured by a string that held a very special golden bell.

"Hey, guys! It's great to see you again!" Sheena hugged everyone that she knew. Then she added, "Oh, and this is my successor, Andrew Fujibayashi."

Andrew was a young man of around 21 smirked at everyone. He had midnight blue hair and vibrant sapphire eyes. he wore a leather black trenchcoat over a white shirt and blue breeches with black boots. A bright blue sheathe housed a katana on the back of his chair. A garnet dragon was visible on his neck, entwining all the way around it. He was fairly tall. "So, this is the famous Hero." Andrew looked Lloyd over. "I think I could take you on."

Sheena groaned. "He's like a horrible combination of me and Lloyd."

"How?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "I never went around challenging people on first glance."

"He's completely arrogant and about as stubborn as can be." Sheena smacked him in the head. "What did I tell you? Show more respect!"

Andrew glared at her. "I could take you on and you know it, _Grandmother_."

Sheena punched him in the stomach.

"Ignoring the total idiot over there... My name's Nari Tolzman. I'm descended from the great healer, Boltzman." A young woman of around 18 with rusty brown hair and ruby red eyes spoke. She wore a dark red tank top that crossed her chest with a short skirt pieced together with straps. A pair of black leather boots extended to her knees and her hair was tied in a bun with a hairnet. A zircon-colored puzzle ring circled her left index finger.

After another round of introductions, Lloyd commented, "All we need is for Yuan to come and then everyone would be here. "

Yuna was contemplative. It would certainly be interesting to meet the man who enabled her to be born and meet all these other people... if he showed up.

Another few days passed, comradeship growing between the successors and the Regenerators of old.

Yuna found that she especially enjoyed the company of the red-headed Zenos Wylder. The two had been enjoyably chatting out on the balcony of their room when they heard someone knock at the door.

Zelos answered it inaudibly, since he was closest to the door and the noisy room went quiet.The group had decided to have lunch in Gale, Yuna, Zelos, and Zenos' room. The two turned to find a man with cerulean blue hair in a ponytail, sweeping over his right green eye. A dark blue cape covered most of his white, blue, and red buckled outfit.

"Yuan, long time no see!" Zelos grinned.

Yuan raised an eyebrow as he replied, "Yes, it certainly _has_ been a long time. To be honest, I doubted that anyone except Kratos, Lloyd, and Colette would survive this long."

Zelos protested, "Hey! I think I ought to be given some credit here!"

"For what?" Lloyd drawled at the idiotic Chosen.

"Looky here!" Zelos revealed a pair of spectactular red-gold wings.

"Me, as well." Presea showed her dark blue-green wings.

"But _how_?" Genis increduously asked.

"Both of them _did_ have Cruxis Crystals." Raine pointed out. "Just like Lloyd and Colette became angels due to their Cruxis Crystals."

"I guess that makes sense, but that still doesn't solve another question." Lloyd crossed his arms.

"'Why is everyone that only had regular exsperes still alive?'" Raine stated. "Right?"

Lloyd nodded.

Raine considered this for a few moments. "It could be that it was a side effect of the Exspheres. Since we used them for so long- our journey was quite long, after all- and so strenuously- battling Summon Spirits and Mithos and whatnot- perhaps the Exspheres that Genis, Regal, Sheena, and I had equipped somehow evolved into a stage between Cruxis Crystals and Exspheres. Granting us longer life that comes from a Cruxis Crystal and yet not allowing us angelic powers. Another theory would be that because of using them with the amount that we did, it's like the exsphere's power never left us. I suppose-"

"Thanks for the lecture, Professor, we'll let you finish later." Lloyd quickly said and added, "Why don't we introduce everyone to Yuan?"

Raine huffed and went off into a corner by herself.

Yuna was the last to meet Yuan. The two looked over the other warily. Yuna spoke first. "I'm Yuna Sounsa. I suppose I'm your descendant, then."

"Apparently so." Yuan agreed.

Zelos clapped the two on the back. "Oh, c'mon, now! You're meeting for the first time and that's all you can say?"

"Who ever said that we weren't getting ready to engage in formal conversation, you idiot?" Yuan interjected, irritated.

Zelos was silent a moment. Then he grinned, "No one! I'm just saying what everyone was thinking!"

Sheena punched him and scoffed, "You're such an idiot."

"Owwww! Sheeeee-nnnnnaaaaa!" Zelos whined. Then he quite promptly began to chase her around the room and the hotel, swearing to get revenge on her.

Yuna tossed and turned in her bed. Finally, she gave an aggravated groan and went to the balcony.

As she shut the door behind her, she heard a voice softly ask, "Yuna?"

Startled, she turned her attention to the person. "Oh, it's only you, Zenos."

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked as she leaned against the railing beside him.

Yuna nodded her head. "Mm-mmm." After a moment, she admitted, "I kinda feel like there's something I was supposed to do, but haven't done yet."

"Me, too." Zenos agreed. "I feel like there's somthing calling me out to the forest.

"Really? Me, too." Yuna started, "Then-"

"Let's go take a walk." Zenos finished for her, a small smile on his face.

"Let's go." Yuna turned to go back indoors.

A few moments later, they made to leave, fully dressed and armed. Outside the door, Yuan and Zelos were conversing.

"Ah, and where do you two think you're sneaking off to?" Zelos gave them a suggestive look.

Zenos rolled his eyes and replied, "We both felt compelled to go to the forest, so we thought we'd take a walk."

"Then I'll come along to make sure you don't do anything _naughty_!" Zelos cackled madly as he dodged Zenos' punch.

"I'll come, as well." Yuan pushed Zelos back into Zenos' range.

With a solid punch connecting, Zelos whimpered, "Why is it always me?"

"Because you're an idiot." chorused Yuan and Zenos as the group went outdoors towards the great sea of trees.

"Oww... you're so harsh..." Zelos whimpered. Yuna was trying not to laugh _too_ loudly.

Once they reached the forest, they wandered around, guided by Yuna and Zenos' compulsions.

The foursome reached a clearing that had a monument with roses trailing throughout the clearing.

Yuna glanced around as she made her way to the monument. "The feeling is the strongest here for me."

After a few moments of silence, there was a sudden rumbling in the clearing. A milky jade orb of mana folded in on itself and coursed through the forest in waves. When the light died away, a woman floated in the air, coming to rest on the monument.

She had long, trailing silvery-green hair with an assortment of flowers in it. Here eyes were a vivid red- as red as roses. Her skin was a deep tan, as if it were tanned from being underneath the sun constantly. She wore a simple emerald green dress to her knees with sandals around her feet, ribbons tied around her calves.

She spoke in a soft, girlish voice, "My name is Wreathe, Summon Spirit of Flora."

_Well, hope you guys liked it! Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, everyone! I hope none of you thought I had forgotten you! Well... I'll admit, I kept forgetting to upload the document. Hehe, bad thing about me- procrastinator and verrrryyyyyyy forgetful. _

_Well, thanks to everyone for reviewing, and thanks to DarkLightZERO for reading over it for me!_

_Disclaimer! I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, the world would be in constant turmoil._

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**Chapter Five**

The foursome looked at each other.

Wreathe? Zenos and Yuna turned to Zelos and Yuan for confirmation. Yuan shrugged. Zelos began to check Wreathe out after shaking his head.

"I thought Summon Spirits were the stuff of legend?" Yuna said, confused.

"Nope, they're just as real as you and me." Zelos confirmed for her, tearing his eyes from Wreathe. "I suppose we'll have to explain later, though." He paused and turned to Yuan. "But we never came across her, I would remember her for sure!"

Yuan answered, "Just because you didn't come across her in your journey doesn't mean that there aren't other summon spirits out there. She's obviously one of them."

Yuna nodded. "Um, what am I supposed to do now?"

"Well, you bear my mark, don't you?" Wreathe stated. "That tattoo I sent you?"

"The rose?" Yuna showed her right arm from under her cape. It could get quite chilly in the forest at night.

"Aha! It _is_ you." Wreathe cheered. "I have chosen you, daughter of three, to wield my power."

"Daughter of three? I'm sorry, I'm daughter of _two_- my mom and my dad." Yuna's brow knit in confusion.

"Ah, so you do not know? The blood inside of yourself?" Wreathe muttered to herself momentarily, then shrugged. "That is something for you to discover on your own. Yet, still, I shall not test you. I have chosen you worthy of my power. No one else has ever used my power before. However, you must pledge a vow before you can fully utilize my power. What do you make your vow on?"

Yuna glanced at the others. Zelos shrugged and said, "Well, Sheena always stated her vow on something she really believed in."

"But that was back when the world was in turmoil! I still don't even know what's happening in Symphonia!" Yuna protested.

Zelos sighed, "Well, I guess we'll all find out what's going on once we meet back up with the others."

After looking at Gale and Yuan for help, she scowled at the three men. "Fat lot of help you all are!"

She thought for a few moments. What could she say? The world was in peace, wasn't it? Was there a real reason for her to be receiving this power? Well, maybe there was something happening... Hadn't she heard back in Aisaliya that there were rumors that all the Halflings had formed an alliance? They had revolted in Neotokio ten years ago, trying to receive better rights and pay for themselves and their families. What did this have to do with her, though?

After more silence, Yuna heard herself say, "I vow to always use your power for the betterment of the world."

Wreathe stopped examining a violet in her hair. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something? I tend to daydream after a while."

Yuna cocked an eyebrow as she repeated, "I vow to always use your power for the betterment of the world."

Wreathe clapped her hands together. "Then, my power is yours." Wreathe became a sphere of mana once again and infused herself inside of Yuna.

Yuna looked at the jade stone that she had found in her hand. It had a charm carved into it. Slowly, she turned back to the others. "Did I really just do that? Make a pact with a mythological Summon Spirit?"

"Yup!" Zelos grinned, clapping her on the back. "You should be proud of yourself!"

Zenos grasped Yuna by the hand and said, "If that's what the tattoos are for, then let's go find my Summon Spirit!" He dragged her along.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Yuna regained her balance and began to run with him, calling over her shoulder, "Hurry up, Yuan! Zelos, c'mon!"

"Kids these days." Yuan muttered as he and Zelos began to run after the two young adults.

Zenos slowed down as he walked into a stand of trees. In the middle of the trees was an extremely tall, slender metal rod. "The feeling is the strongest here."

Yuan examined the rod. "Based on your tattoo and the rod, I'd say you've got Volt."

"What?" Zenos seemed taken aback. "But he's the spirit that-"

At that moment, a flash of light traveled down the rod and shot out of the ground. An orb of mana appeared and pulsed through the forest. In its place was a translucent orb with constant electrical purple sparks flashing all around it and in it, with blood red eyes. After a few moments, Zenos answered to Volt, "Yes, I suppose I am your chosen. Proof? Oh, here."

He lifted up his left sleeve. Volt seemed to acknowledge this and apparently said something else. Zenos turned to the other three. "I've got to fight him. You might want to stand back a little ways."

"Are you sure you want to do this by yourself?" Yuna asked him.

"Sure. I'll manage." Zenos unsheathed his nine inch wide broadsword with one hand. "If there's any problems, I can always come back later once I've improved, right?"

Yuna went to stand with Zelos and Yuan while Zenos prepared himself.

He went into a fighting stance and then charged in.

Volt attacked with a Cardinal Strike, which Zenos avoided with an acrobatic twist through the bars of the attack. Zenos attacked Volt with his sword three times, then with a Sword Rain connected to it, knocking Volt to the ground. While Volt recovered, Zenos quickly muttered a magical incantation, maintaining a rhythm with his left hand, drawing a diamond. "Gotcha! **Spread**!"

A surge of water engulfed the Spirit, taking a large chunk of Volt's energy when it disappeared. Zenos charged in again, attacking with a Hell Pyre, followed by a Hurricane Thrust. While the Electricty Spirit gathered itself again from the blow, Zenos took advantage of Volt's momentary immobility to do another water attack. "Drown the sins of thine enemy! **TIDAL WAVE**!"

Water came at Volt from every direction. When the water disappeared, Zenos stopped attacking. He cocked his head, as if listening.

"My vow?" Zenos considered it for a few moments, then said, "For the sake of those who are oppressed, I will right their unwarranted wrongs."

Volt closed his eyes in agreement, then melded inside of Zenos.

Zenos tossed his amethyst up in the air and caught it. "Hehe!"

Yuna grinned at him. "That was a _totally_ wicked battle!"

"Well, he learned everything he knows from me!" Zelos crowed, throwing an arm around Zenos' shoulder.

Zenos restrained a good-natured roll of his eyes.

Yuan mentioned, "Perhaps we should be heading back now? I suspect that the others will have some exciting news as well."

"I imagine." Yuna agreed. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they find out I've got an undiscovered Summon Spirit!"

"I fear for you, Yuna. Raine is very scary when she goes into her Archaelogical Mania mode." Zelos winced at the memories.

"Oh, surely she's not that bad." Yuna scoffed.

"Famous last words." Yuan muttered.

When they finally returned to the inn, after several hours of being lost in the labrynthine depths of the forest, the foursome found the other eighteen people excitedly conversing.

"Hey, guys, how's it goin'?" Zelos grinned.

He was greeted with a loud outburst from everyone.

Yuan whistled loudly to get everyone's attention. "If you wish to talk about the Summon Spirits you received, do so. Just do it one at a time!"

"I got Celsius." grunted Antony.

"Whoa! He speaks!" Gale fell backwards out of his precariously balanced chair. "Is there a normal talking mode for him?"

"Of course there is, you clown." Antony retorted, face as impassive as ice.

"Ha, he got ya, Gale." Yuna laughed at her crestfallen friend. "Who'd you get, anyways?"

"Who, none other than the Gnome!" chortled Gale.

"Big surprise there." Yuan muttered. "They're both idiots!"

Yuna hastily coughed and announced, "Well, I got Wreathe, Summon Spirit of Flora."

Zenos rolled his eyes. "I got Volt."

Miralle eagerly jumped up and down. "I got Aska and Roelle got Luna!"

"Miralle, stop that before you sprain your ankle." warned Roelle.

Caleb intoned, "I've got Shadow."

"You just can't beat me! I've got Efreet!" Andrew boasted, crossing his arms over his puffed out chest.

Nari poked Andrew in the stomach. He doubled over. "That ought to deflate you a little. I've got Aural, the Summon Spirit of Psyche."

"I'm bonded to Sylph now." Robyn smiled.

"I can summon Undine now." Rory said quietly.

"I have Origin." Lucas nodded with a small grin to everyone.

Raine quipped to Yuna, "I expect you to let me compile an database on Wreathe later."

"What?" Yuna blinked. "What for?"

"I've been researching all of the Summon Spirits, correct? Wreathe is one I haven't got any information on yet." Raine replied.

"Um... I... guess?" Yuna agreed hesitantly.

"Wonderful! Now, let's all talk." Raine returned her attention to the large group. "Does anyone know why we were all gathered in this place? And why at this time, especially when we are all supposed to be at peace in Symphonia?"

Kratos said, "I noticed from the information I received from Putter- that's Yuna's computer- that discrimination has started anew. Not with half-elves, but with these new races that have appeared. Fairies, mermaids, sprites, and others. If you have the blood of humans and/or elves, you are accepted. If you have a third type of blood in you, you are looked down upon, but accepted because of your human and elven blood. Half-fairies are shunned, as are all other 'Halflings' as they are called. Halflings are identified at birth if they are birthed in a public hospital and put to work at the age of ten, as servants, sewage managers, and other horrible jobs. They receive no respect and have very little pay- barely enough for two of them to scrape a living together for their families." Kratos paused to regain his breath.

"Ten years ago, they stopped working for a few days in a boycott of this, trying to gain more respect and more pay for their families. The Knights of Mana put down their protest- rather forcibly. The casualties numbered in the thousands- on both sides. Yet, they were shunned even more afterwards. In the last five years or so, they have instated a council, called the Order of the Elements. For, they say, their ancestors were formed from the elements of the earth itself."

The group digested this information.

Zelos decided to say something. "As you all know, I've been living in Neotokio- formerly Meltokio- all this while. Yet, I couldn't show my face outside the walls of my mansion without being in disguise. So, when the revolt came in Neotokio, I couldn't do anything. The royal family wouldn't believe me if I said I was the great Zelos Wilder- I had to stage my death eventually, because all of my hunnies had noticed that I wasn't aging while they were.

"So, how do you think I felt as I watched all of our work come undone? I couldn't do anything and the family couldn't risk sending Zenos in, for fear of being ostracized. If they say that they come from the elements themselves, I'll believe them. But after they formed the Order of the Elements, there has been more and more hostility between pure-blooded humans and elves and those who were discovered more recently, along with people of mixed ancestry. It must be stopped."

"The question here, though, is how do we stop it?" Lucas stood.

Sheena pointed out, "Well, when the Order of the Elements council was formally announced, the cities all began to round up their Halflings and put them into detainment camps. It's almost like the Desians and Cruxis has made a return."

"Except the fact that we know that they haven't- they couldn't." Caleb stated.

After a few moments of silence, Colette voiced everyone's doubts. "Could they?"

_Dndndnnnn! Hehe! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please R 'n' R! _

_Warning! It may be a while before I have another chapter up! I have a lootttttaaaa extracurricular activities and I'm usually pretty busy on the weekends. So, I'll try to get it to ya as soon as I can!_

_Peace out! XD_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, everyone! Sorry it took so long to update! I've been busy and I forget. I'm a very forgetful person... didn't I already mention that?.? ... Oh, well. ;;;;**

**Anyways, thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. Kudos to you! Oh, and a cookie, if you want it. XP**

**Apologies to DarkLightZERO, for not letting him read over this chapter for any mistakes. I didn't want to make everyone wait even longer. Hehe, once again, apologies. **

**Well, read and enjoy! Review back, please! **

**Chapter Six**

"No, of course not." Lloyd and Kratos immediately dismissed the idea of Cruxis returning to the world.

"I went up to Derris Kharlan, remember? I made sure that all of the angels would remain there." Kratos pointed out.

"And we destroyed Mithos." Lloyd added.

Everyone still looked uncomfortable, but they all nodded their agreement to this.

"Now, then," Raine said, "Shall we continue?"

"We need to decide what exactly it is that we need to do. There's a specific reason we've all been gathered together at this point in time." Gale commented reasonably.

"Wow, the clown actually said something that made sense." Nari rolled her eyes playfully.

"Yep! I'm just full of surprises!" Gale grinned foolishly.

Everyone gave an aggravated motion.

"However, Gale's right. We do need to determine exactly what to do at the moment." Caleb stroked his chin.

Zenos suggested, "No matter how we look at it, we're still stumped. Why don't we head back to Neotokio to my place? I have the feeling that if anything momentous is going to happen, it's going to begin there."

The group mulled over this momentarily.

"Considering our current information, I think this is our best course of action." Lucas nodded his agreement. "Neotokio is, after all, the largest city in the world. It's also the world capital, where all the governments congregate to meet and discuss the politics."

"Yes, I agree." Raine consented.

"Then, are we all in agreement?" Regal spread his hand wide.

The descendants all murmured their agreement.

"Now, if all of our heirs would please leave us?" Yuan requested. "Our original party have some important things to discuss."

"Fine by me!" Andrew jabbed a finger at Antony, "Antony, I challenge you to a fight!"

"No." Antony got up and walked out of the room, arms crossed.

"Hey! Get back here!" Andrew demanded, running out of the room after him.

"Oh, my good goddess. What an _idiot_!" Nari rolled her eyes yet again as she exited the room.

"If you'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." Rory inclined his head politely before leaving.

"Oh, if he isn't the perfect gentleman!" Robyn laughed, floating out the door.

Miralle giggled at Robyn's comment as Roelle shook his head good-naturedly. Lucas followed the twins, striking up a conversation with them.

"Well, let's leave our oh-so-wise ancestors to their business, good friends!" Gale offered an arm to Zenos and Yuna. "Shall we?"

Zenos shook his head at Gale and went to Yuna's other side, where he would be safe.

Yuna laughed and accepted Gale's arm. "I vote that Zenos treats us to some ice cream!"

"Wait, why me?" Zenos protested as the trio left the room, Caleb closing the door behind them.

After a few moments, the original ten Saviors of the World turned and faced each other.

"So." Zelos said, waiting for someone else to start the subject.

"There is no room for us in their journey." Kratos shook his head.

"Our time has been over for a long time." Yuan agreed.

"So what are we going to do?" Sheena looked at all of her dear friends' faces.

Everyone was silent.

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"... and then the guy was like, 'I didn't do it! It was Bob!'" Gale finished a joke.

Everyone looked at him, not laughing.

"Gale. That one was... horrible." Robyn winced.

Gale huffed and fell silent. The room was filled with an awkward air.

"Y'know, since we're all going to be travelling together, shouldn't we, like, get to know each other better?" Miralle offered.

"What do you propose?" Lucas asked.

Caleb suggested, "Why don't we start with our childhoods? What it was like growing up under the influence of your ancestor or not knowing anything until this whole adventure started?"

"That's a good idea." Roelle agreed. "Who wants to go first?"

"How about you two?" Nari pointed to the twins. "It was your idea."

"Okay. Me and Roelle don't really know who we're descended from. We're orphans, found by the priests in the Cathedral of Asgard. They took us in and raised us. We always loved to play up on that stone dais that was erected by Cleo the III and the other ruins- although I usually had to make Roelle come. The priests always took us on their pilgrimages, so we've already seen a bit of the world." Miralle grinned at everyone.

"What about you, Caleb?" encouraged Roelle.

Caleb shrugged. "I was born and raised outside of Aisaliya. I always knew I was going to do something good for everyone, one way or another, even when I was a child. Colette always helped me. She taught me everything she knows and told me the real Journey of Regeneration- not the glorified one in the Bible."

"Aisaliya, eh?" Gale thoughtfully asked, "I wonder how it is that neither Yuna nor me never saw you in town?"

Caleb returned, "I never go into Aisaliya. Too much noise for me."

Yuna and Gale nodded, accepting this answer.

"Who's next?" Miralle chirped.

After a few moments of silence, Gale volunteered, "I suppose I'll go.

"I was born in Asgard, but my family died in a house fire. It was started by arsonists. I escaped and made it to the Swordsman's River before some evil travellers pushed me into the river. I passed out and when I came to, I was on the banks of Aisaliya. That was when I was ten, I think. Then, I met Yuna four years ago. But that's a story for a rainy night."

Gale grinned at Yuna, who seemed to be cringing. "Don't remind me."

Rory spoke up, "I was raised in Altamira all my life. I didn't know much about the outside world until I turned 20. That was when Regal made me co-president and I began to travel. Regal is the only family I know. My parents left after I was born and my older brother, Remus, has forsaken the family's name."

Robyn patted him on his hand consolingly before saying, "I was born in Hima. I'm the oldest of three siblings. My parents love to travel, so we were always going from town-to-town, conducting research for others of all variety- research about summon spirits to the population in an area. I suppose that's something that runs in my side of the family. We're all very intelligent. " She ignored Gale's complaint of "What's that supposed to mean?" and pressed on, "When I was 16, I left to go live on my own and have been doing so ever since."

"Ah, I thought you looked familiar." Lucas gave a small grin. "I've seen you before- in Luin. You were the nice lady who would buy all of the children pinwheels on the Day of Regeneration."

Robyn laughed. "Oh, so you're from Luin. No wonder you looked familiar!"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I was born in Luin. My parents love that town. I do, too. It was a little weird growing up because of Lloyd's statue. I loved to sit at the base of the fountain and watch the people go by. On hot days, I would sit at the statue itself, in the shade of the enclove. People would start to gather around and tell me I looked so much like Lloyd, I could be his brother. Now, though, it all makes sense."

Everyone gave a chuckle.

"How about you, Antony?" Robyn turned to the stolid man.

"I was born here, in Auzelle. Presea raised me outside of the village." Antony shortly said.

"I don't suppose you'd elaborate on that?" Nari propped her chin on her hand. Antony didn't reply. "Anyways, I was born in Palmacosta, along with an older brother. We lived with our parents. The only reason I even know I'm Boltzman's descendant is because both of my parents are geneologists."

"Wow, geneology. How exciting." yawned Andrew. He easily blocked Nari's punch as he stated, "I was born and raised in Mizuho, of course. My parents and Sheena resided over Mizyho jointly, so I was treated with a lot of respect, both ways- as Sheena's heir and as my parents' heir. Growing up, it was all about fighting for me. I can't deal with schoolwork."

Zenos shook his head. "How do you survive on only brawn?"

Andrew bristled." You wanna take this outside?"

"Who, chill out, macho man." Nari pulled Andrew back down. Andrew tumbled down backwards, out of his chair, with a loud crash. "Whoops, sorry, 'drew."

Andrew's eye started to tic dangerously as he righted the chair and sat back down.

Zenos grinned, "Now, after that most amusing interlude... I was born in Neotokio. I've lived there my whole life. I doubt I'd be alowed to live anywhere else unless my little brother, Zach, would be willing to assume the family throne. Zelos was always there for me. He's my father- not my biological father. Dad's always out of town for one reason or another and he's always with some woman everytime I turn around, since Mom died when I was 3." He seemed lost in thought momentarily, then gave everyone a reassuring grin.

Yuna gave him a small grin back. "I guess that leaves me, then. Let's see... I was born in Phalneyr until I was 14. Then, I left my family to live in Aisaliya. They moved here, to Auzelle, at the same time I left for Aisaliya. I have my parents, an older brother and sister, a younger brother and sister, and two cousins that live with us. You've already met one of them. And I haven't seen my parents since we came here. They may have gone back to Phalneyr." Yuna shrugged.

The group sat silently for a few moments, absorbing what everyone had told them.

Gale decided it was getting too quiet and pulled out a deck of cards. "Who wants to play poker?"

"Dude, where did those cards come from?" Nari looked at them dubiously. They were rather beat up, with several cards' halves taped together.

"Who cares, as long as they shuffle?" Andrew sat down, "Deal me in!"

"I would strongly advise that you don't play against him." Yuna warned. "You'll be gambling with your very sanity!"

Antony and Andrew were unruffled. "I'll play, too." Antony sat down with the two.

Just as Gale triumphantly smirked at Yuna, who had placed her forehead in her fingers, Zelos appeared and announced, "The great Zelos has arrived to tell you that you must all return to your rooms! Naughty children, tsk tsk."

Zenos punched Zelos in the arm. "Ow... What an abusive descendant I have! Okay, seriously, everyone come back to my room. We all have something important to tell you."

The group complied and returned to the room. After everyone was settled again, there was silence. The original Saviors all looked at each other uncomfortably.

Caleb's brow furrowed. "What's wrong Colette?"

Following another few moments of silence, Raine carefully chose her words. "We won't be joining you on your journey."

"What?" Roelle's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Why not?" Miralle asked, disappointed.

"Our time as Saviors has come and passed." Yuan explained. "It is your generation's time now."

"It's not like we're going to leave you completely, though." Sheena pointed out. "We'll be in some of the villages you'll stop in, along with closer family in other times. You can get ahold of us anytime you want with a communicator."

"Why does this make me feel like kids being sent off on their first camping trip with over-protective parents telling them everything?" Gale muttered. Yuna pinched him to shut him up. Otherwise, the descendants all nodded.

"Now, you should probably head to Neotokio tomorrow." Regal said. "Zelos will be returning with you since he does live there after all."

"Yep! Don't worry, my little kiddies, the great Zelos will keep you safe!" Zelos cackled.

"Is he always an idiot?" Nari jabbed her thumb in Zelos' direction.

"Not always, but usually." Zenos added, "Dam, thought I was finally rid of him!"

Everyone watched with amusement as Zelos and Zenos began to argue. When it escalated into a pillow fight, the group began to pick sides.

"C'mon, Zelos! Hit him a good one!" Lloyd cheered.

"Zenos, don't let that old man get the better of you!" Andrew jeered.

Zelos and Zenos both hit each other in the face with a well-aimed pillow projectile, knocking them down. Zelos landed on the floor, his head banging against a table, and Zenos landed on top of a very surprised Yuna. When Yuna fell backwards, she clipped Gale on the shoulder, who hit Genis, who stumbled into Presea, who fell on Lloyd, and so on. The classic domino effect, with Sheena landing squarely on top of a stunned Zelos.

Everyone groaned momentarily before attempting to disentangle themselves.

"Zenos, I can't breathe..." Yuna wheezed.

Zenos hurridly got off of her. "Sorry, are you alright?"

Yuna regained her breath. She nodded as she accepted his hand to get up.

Around the room, similar conversations were taking place.

Yuan moaned. "I vote that we all go to sleep before causing anymore damage to the room or to ourselves."

"Agreed." Kratos groaned. He helped Raine up, who swayed lightly, then regained her composure. "Indeed." Raine nodded. "Good night, everyone."

Everyone left the room, leaving Gale, Zelos, Zenos, and Yuna by themselves again.

"Ah, peace and quiet." Yuna stretched onto her bed, then winced as she felt a quick jab of pain in her wrist.

"Something wrong?" Gale asked from his bed.

"I might've sprained my wrist- no biggie." Yuna rubbed her fingers around her right wrist, flinching at the pain.

"Your wrist is important to you, though." Zelos sat on the bed beside her. "Let me see it."

Yuna extended her hand and he examined it. "This would be a good opportunity for Zenos to try his First Aid spell."

Zenos raised an eyebrow. "But you can do it much more effectively."

"Practice makes perfect. Spell, now." Zelos held out Yuna's hand to Zenos.

Zenos rolled his eyes. Placing his right hand on her wrist, he kept a beat with his left hand, tracing the diamond. "Here ya go. First Aid."

Yuna felt her wrist again. "Thank you. It feels much better."

Zenos gave her a small grin.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, the party of 13 stocked up on supplies and prepared their rheairds.

Gale and Yuna glanced at each other sheepishly. Why hadn't they thought to rent some rheairds instead of just taking their leviboards? Oh, yeah. They weren't rich.

Antony commented, "I don't have a rheaird- I walked here."

"Me, neither. Sheena's taking it back to Mizuho." Andrew glared at Sheena, who crossed her arms and smirked at him before returning to her conversation with Zelos.

"We rode our leviboards here." Yuna shrugged.

Kratos groaned at the memory. "It took us so long to reach Auzelle."

Gale grinned. "Surely it wasn't too much for the Battle God?"

Raine smacked him upside the head. "Show more respect."

Gale rubbed his head ruefully.

"Anyways, Yuna can ride with me." Zenos said.

"That's my buddy!" Yuna gleefully laughed, grateful that he had saved her from his ancestor.

"Well, then, I'll take my protegé, Gale!" Zelos exclaimed.

"When did I become your protegé?" demanded Gale.

"I suppose that Drew can ride with me." Nari groaned,

"Since when did I say you could call me Drew?" protested Andrew.

Then, you can ride with me, Antony." Lucas offered.

Antony responded with a simple nod and a muttered, "Thank you," before loading his belongings onto the back of the rheaird.

Once the seating arrangements were done and all the weapons, belongings, and supplies were securely fastened to the rhairds, everyone turned to bid the remaining Saviors good-bye.

Yuna said to Yuan, "It was a great privilege to meet you, Yuan."

Yuan nodded with a soft smile. "Likewise. I know you'll make me proud." Then, he pulled the shorter Yuna into an embrace. He whispered, "Once you have met Pryor, come back to me. I'll be in Heimdall. Don't say anything about this to anyone. Not even Gale or Zenos."

Yuna, though confused, nodded, almost imperceptibly. Satisfied, Yuan gave her another squeeze, then released her. "Be safe."

"I will." Yuna gave him a smile.

"Don't forget."

"I won't. Bye!" With a good-bye peck on Yuan's cheek, Yuna joined the others and hopped onto the rheaird behind Zenos.

With everyone waving goodbye, they took off and headed for Neotokio, east of Auzelle. Yuna fell into deep thought, wondering what was up with Yuan. In her mind, she played out many different scenarios- from the most likely to the most fantastical.

Suddenly, she was jolted out of her revire with the sound of rock 'n' roll. The rheairds that were availble in this time often offered stereo speakers that could be heard, even over the rush of air flooding a person's ears.

Zenos had felt her give a sudden jerk as she held onto him around the waist. "Don't like rock?" he asked, surprised.

"It's not that- I _love_ rock." Yuna assured him. "I was just thinking.

"Ah." Zenos nodded. "I know what you mean."

After a few moments of silence between songs, a song started playing that Yuna knew. She couldn't help but sing along to it. It was a popular song by a human who was named Kelly Clarkson. The song was titled Behind These Hazel Eyes.

When she finished, the group looked at her, impressed and approving.

"We know who's gonna be bringing in gold when we're low." Zelos commented with a smirk at his descendant. "Yuna and Zenos."

"What?" Yuna looked surprised as Zenos groaned, "Zelos, can we not start this old argument again?"

"_Sing_! I command thee!" Zelos cackled wildly. The traveling entourage ignored as Zelos began singing along with the song Savin Me by a group of humans and elves called Nickelback.

The song ended after a few minutes, leaving the party once again impressed.

Yuna squeezed him from behind. "That was _awesome_!"

"Hey!" Nari grinned. "Gimme a guitar in the next town and I'll show you what I can do!"

"I play guitar, too." Lucas added with a smug grin.

"Anyone else got a special musical talent?" Robyn looked around with a cat-like expression on her face.

After a few moments, Antony admitted, "I play the drums."

The other 12 people stared at him in surprise.

"Got a problem?" Antony glared back.

"Nope, not all all." everyone muttered more or less to some degree.

Antony nodded his approval and closed his eyes again.

"Well, guys, let's set down and put up camp for tonight." Zelos announced 45 minutes later.

"Oh, c'mon! It's another 15 minutes to Hima!" Gale whined.

"We don't have any gald." Lucas pointed out. "We used it all on supplies."

"So make Yuna sing!" Gale protested, "She'll being pulling in business anyways, just by walking into the place!"

Yuna groaned and plopped her head into the middle of Zenos' back. Zenos gave a chuckle as he heard her mutter, "Don't remind me!"

Zelos was silent, then inched his rheaird away from the group, engaging in a heated debate with Gale. A few moments later, Zelos cheerily vocalized, "We're gonna set up camp! Daaaaa-da-da-da-da-da-duh-daaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Touch the ground!"

Gale looked unhappy.

Yuna laughed at him and called, "Oh, c'mon, Gale, cheer up! It's not like you're gonna get raped or anything!"

Gale glared at her.

Once they had set up camp and Zelos cast his eruption attack ("Burn, baby!") to get a large fire going, Zelos grinned at everyone.

"What're you planning now, you old lech?" Zenos looked at Zelos suspiciously.

Zelos began to chuckle. "What else? We're gonna train! Get your weapons ready for sparring matches!"

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**The whole dadada thingy is supposed to be like the Charge theme. And if you've ever played a sport, you may or may not have come across the Superman Stretch. To do it, you stand on one leg, the other pulled up to your back, held in place by the hand of the same side. The other arm, you stretch out for a given amount of time. Then, you come to the point where you're supposed to hum the Superman theme song and cry, "Touch your to-oes!" **

**Heh, trust me, it's funnier if you actually do it yourself, or in a group, like how I learned it... at Band Camp. Ahh, Band Camp- those're the times right there. Not American Pie: Band Camp, by the way, although the people in my band can get pretty bad sometimes... I'll stop ranting now.XD**

**Please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive, don't worry. I was very busy with school (softball, band, EOCs, and whatnot) and I apologize once again to everyone who's still reading the story! I tried to make the chapter as long as possible, but I don't know if it really makes any sense. Hehe, don't worry, there is a point to this chapter. Kinda. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, don't you think I woulda made a sequel in English, now?**

CHAPTER SEVEN

The group goggled at the idiotic redhead.

"Sparring?" Gale choked out.

"What in the world _for_?" Robyn's brow furrowed.

"I realize that you all already know how to fight. However, I don't know the extent of your abilities." Zelos reasonably stated. "I would like to know so that I might give you a couple of pointers if you need them."

Andrew snorted "I don't think you could do much to help me. I already know how to fight. Even better than you, _old man_! I was raised in Mizuho, remember." Andrew turned to Antony. "However, I _would_ like to fight you, Antony."

Antony faced Andrew and muttered something containing the words "old," "teenagers," and "arrogant ass."

"What was that?" Andrew threatened.

"Antony, please fight him. Maybe he'll leave you alone." Miralle prompted.

"Maybe hell will freeze over first." he muttered, but added, "Okay, yeah. I'll fight you."

"Great! Fighting is to be done in that clearing over there." Zelos motioned to the ring of trees off from the campsite and the fire.

Andrew drew his katana and pointed it at Antony as an eager look came into his sapphire eyes. "I'm going to enjoy knocking you down."

The two young men headed to the clearing, followed by Zelos, who motioned that the rest of the group should remain sitting at the fire.

The ten people remaining at the fire saw Zelos motion for the fight to begin.

Andrew flew at Antony silently, his feet not making a sound. Antony barely drew his short sword in time to block Andrew's katana. Antony shifted his weight so that he was standing sideways and kicked Andrew away with the heel of his foot. Andrew rolled backwards with the force and sprung up in a defensive position. He sucessfully blocked Antony's overhead slash and jumped backwards. He dove in again and Antony caught Andrew in the torso and lifted him over his head. Andrew landed on his feet again and his hand snaked into his trenchcoat. He flicked a shuriken at Antony, who dodged it. Antony wasn't prepared for the explosion that occurred when the shuriken hit the tree behind him. Antony fell forward on his face, but the force flipped him onto his back, where he instinctively raised his sword point first into Andrew's stomach at the same time that Andrew touched his katana to Antony's throat. Neither were breaking skin.

After a few moments, Zelos declared, "We have a standoff! Good job, you two!"

The two remained in that position momentarily before Antony withdrew his shortsword. "A good fight, Andrew. I may look forward to another one."

Andrew considered him before withdrawing his katana. "Indeed." He extended a hand to help Antony up. Antony accepted it and shook hands with Andrew once he was upright.

"Alright, who's next?" chirped Zelos. The others glanced at each other uneasily. There was no way that this could end well.

By the next morning, everyone was quite sore and tired. They were all looking forward to the promised hot baths they would receive in the Wylder mansion. Needless to say, the group was eager to reach Neotokio by evening.

In order to pass the time, Zelos and Gale were belting out one lewd song after another. Finally, Nari was so fed up with it that she flew her rheaird right beside theirs and proceeded to beat the crap out of the two with her rather leathal whip.

Andrew somehow managed to gain control of his and Nari's rheaird and took her as far away from them as he could. Zenos took pity on the idiot Chosen and the young Mage and healed them with his First Aid.

"I hope you learned your lesson!" Nari scowled at them.

"Nari, you're a tempermental one." Gale complained.

"Oh, wait! I have another announcement for everyone!" Zelos turned his rheaird around and flew backwards. "I want to give everyone nicknames!"

"Sheena told me about that." Andrew called to him. "Give me a nickname and I'll beat your ass so bad."

"Andrew is the King of Katanas." Zelos proudly called out, as if he didn't hear Andrew's threat. "Nari may be the Tempermental One!"

"Hey, that's what I said!" Gale protested.

"Gale is the Complaint Box!"

"Hey, hold up a minute-" Gale started.

Zelos pushed on, ignoring Gale. "Miralle is the Gentle Angel and Roelle, I guess he can be the Protective Sentinel."

Miralle flushed and Roelle managed to look pleased, somehow.

"Antony is the Icy Silence. Lucas gets to be the Collected Mind. Caleb's Contemplative Sage. Rory- ahhh, I guess you're Nobly Noble. Robyn- oh, Robyn is definitely Windswept. " Zelos paused momentarily. "Yuna, you are Joyful Soul. And Zenos- you need a new nickname, anyways- you can be the Electric Knight."

Zelos was silent a moment, then nodded approvingly. "Yup, yup, I like those nicknames for you guys."

"Great, can we move on with our lives now?" Nari retorted.

Zelos sniffed as if his feelings were hurt and turned around to fly the right way. "Fine, you all be mean! You won't be when you find a good reason to use those names!"

"What good reason would we have to use those names for?" Andrew scowled.

Zelos sped his rheaird up. "Better keep up with me if you want those baths!"

The other rheairds hastened to comply.

It was another four hours or so before they reached Neotokio. Instead of landing outside the city and walking to the Wylder Mansion, they were able to land on the mansion's roof. Zelos had had the wonderful insight to make the roof of the manse into a landing pad for rheairds.

Zenos was thrilled to be home. With a broad grin to everyone, he eagerly hauled all his luggage down into the mansion. "Zach! Hey, Zach! You home?"

Zelos waited for everyone to gather all of their baggage before leading them into the sprawling three-story mansion. Yuna fell in step behind him as he explained, "Zach is Zenos' little brother. He's only younger by two years, but he'll always be Zenos' baby brother." Zelos grinned impudently. "At any rate, I'll show you all to your rooms since Zenos has forgotten his manners."

After everyone had been shown their rooms, everyone was unpacking. Yuna heard the sound of running feet outside her door.

"Hey, Zelos, gimme a hand, won't you?" a voice whispered. Curiousity piqued, Yuna threw the rest of her stuff onto her bed and poked her head into the hall in time to hear Zelos reply, "It depends, Zach."

Zach was a tall red-head, as well, but shorter than Zelos by about three inches. His baritone voice replied, "I'm gonna prank Zenos, but I'm short on time. You gotta distract him!"

"I'll do it for ya if it's good enough." Yuna joined in with a wink. "I love a good prank."

"Zach, this is Yuna Sounsa. Yuna, meet Zach." Zelos introduced the two.

The two nodded at each other and Zach quickly explained the nature of the prank. Yuna stifled her laughter and asked, "How much time do you need?"

A knock on his door alerted him to a visitor. Zenos opened the door to find Yuna. "Yuna? Can I help you?"

Yuna looked left and right before whispering, "Can I come in?"

Zenos looked at her, puzzled, but stood to the side. She stepped in and looked around the room. It had clean emerald green walls with a full-length mirror on the back of his door. There were various pictures on the wall. His bed had a green and white comforter with lots of pillows and the frame, along with the desk, shelves, and dresser, were all mahogany. A stereo sat on a shelf and a computer rested on his desk. The only mess was the chaos by his desk created by multitudes of magazines, books, and cds.

"Nice." Yuna grinned at him.

Zenos flushed and said, "Wasn't there something you needed to talk to me about?"

"Yes, there was." Yuna stepped closer to him and looked up at him through her luscious cerulean lashes. "I was wondering..."

Zenos flushed even redder, though he wasn't too sure why. "U-um, wondering what?"

"This is my first time in a house this big let alone a city of this size. So, I was wondering if... um..." Yuna looked down at the dark green carpet and tinged a little bit red, "if you would maybe... help me? I mean, like, show me around or something?"

Zenos felt a small disappointment, but for what, he didn't know what. "Sure, Yuna."

She gave him a brilliant grin and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks, Zenos! Whenever you're ready, we can go!"

He didn't respond right away. Suddenly, he shook his head and turned to her, "Okay."

"Then let's go now!" Yuna pulled him out of the room.

"Zenos! You just got home and you're not even gonna say hi before you go out?" a loud voice intruded.

"Zach, _you're_ the one who wouldn't - Sweet Goddess!" Zenos jumped back at the appearance of Zach. "What happened to you?"

Zach had puke green hair with a clashing hot pink bandana covering his forehead from his brows to his hairline. Each ear had multiple hoops hanging from it, along with a rather large one dangling from his nose. A tacky purple shirt hung open, revealing a well muscled torso, and bright red breeches that were baggy went down to his feet, hanging low around his hips. His face had a black star under his left eye, a lightening bolt under his right eye, and random squiggly lines on the rest of his face.

"Yo, bro. Like my new look?" Zach's slate gray eyes twinkled madly as he spun for greater effect.

Zenos was silent, eyes closed. He walked to his brother and grasped him by the shoulders. "Zach."

"Yes?" Zach looked up at his three inches taller brother.

The next thing Zach knew, he was in a headlock with Zenos giving him a very painful noogie. "What in the world were you thinking, you stupid punk! You've probably got Mom rolling in her grave now! How could you-"

Zenos stopped yelling at his brother when he saw the green hair slip off, leaving only the natural red hair. The earrings had jangled loose and fallen onto the floor. Dropping his brother, he picked up an earring. It was magnetic.

Zach was howling with laughter. Yuna was laughing merrily as well, joined in by Zelos, who had magically appeared.

Zenos glanced at the wig, then Zach, Yuna, and Zelos. He stammered, "Y-you pranked me- again!"

Zach nodded through his tears of laughter.

Zenos jumped on his little brother and began to wrestle him.

Yuna and Zelos got themselves under control. Yuna inquired, "Is this normal?"

"As normal as things get around here." Zelos went to the two boys and stood over them, scowling. "I think that's enough... unless you guys want me to join you."

The two brothers stopped immediately.

"Wow, Zelos, that's a good threat." Yuna stifled a giggle.

Zenos threw his brother a dangerous look after they had extricated themselves from their tangle.

"Good one, wasn't it, Zenos?" Zach brightly said.

Zenos was silent, then grudgingly admitted, "I guess it was. How long did it take you to plan this one?"

"Thought of it _ages_ ago!" Zach waed it off. "Thanks for your help, my new partner-in-crime!"

Yuna laughed at Zenos' appalled face. "I thought it was a pretty good idea. But I was serious about you showing me around."

Zenos sighed. "We can do that tomorrow. For now, I'll show you to the bathroom so you can wash up before dinner.

"Thanks!" Yuna followed him.

"I'm gonna go wash this stuff off, Zelos." Zach headed for his room.

"Dinner is in forty-five minutes!" Zelos warned, heading to his private bathroom.

Dinner was a noisy affair. That was only to be expected, though, with fourteen people.

When everyone was eating dessert, one of the servants, a pretty young girl with the bluish skin of the merpeople and the characteristic white eyes of the nymphic people, came in and presented Zenos with a letter. "A letter from the king has just arrived, Lord Zenos."

"Oh, thank you, Naleen. Tell Hallo we said the food was wonderful, please."

"Certainly, Lord Zenos." Naleen cursied and left.

Conversation continued as Zenos opened the letter. A loud groan from him alerted the others to his discomfort.

"What does Astros want _now_, Zenos?" Zach drawled out.

"The Princess has gotten herself abducted again. She was out visiting a cousin and on the way back, her rheaird malfunctioned. She landed near the detainment camp and they found her. They're holding Princess Stella hostage the camp can have clearance to equip TEBOs to their captives." Zenos explained. "However, Astros cannot authorize it without the consent of three-quarters of the noble houses. He needs me to go to the Council of Bloods in place of my father. He will be hosting a banquet tomorrow for the noble houses and invite me to bring my eleven guests, my brother, and my cousin. Council is to be held during the banquet."

"All of us?" Miralle gasped. "We can go?"

"Rory, you're invited to attend the Council as well." Zenos folded the letter and placed it back in its envelope. "Guess you're all going shopping tomorrow, then."

"Wait, who's the cousin?" Andrew interjected.

"Zelos is a cousin to the public. He moved in with us to learn more about Neotokio and its politics. His name to the general public is Zetos, in accordance with family tradition, which is that the firstborn have a name similar to Zelos, or Seles if it's a girl." Zach informed the group.

Everyone nodded their understanding. After a few moments of silence, Roelle stood and said, "I suppose me 'n' Miralle will go to bed. It's getting late and it sounds like we've got a big day tomorrow."

The large group agreed and retreated to their rooms for the remainder of the night.

The next morning, Yuna awoke to the small of bacon sizzling in the kitchen. She also caught a whiff of muffins baking. Her stomach growled, demanding that it be fed. With a leisurely stretch, she slithered out from under her covers and walked out of her room, turning left. She was situated on the third story, with the Wylder brothers, Gale, and Lucas. she was in the middle of the rooms with the bathroom at the far end of the hall. She paused at the top of the stairs. Was it proper to wear her pajamas down to brekfast? She examined her silky silver pajamas. It was a simple spaghetti strap top with low riding boxer shorts.

"Yuna?"

Yuna turned and saw a bleary eyed Zenos and a barely awake Zach was right behind him. Both guys were wearing a pair of sweatpants.

"Hey, guys, I was about to come look for you." Yuna gave a large yawn.

"Why?" Zach spoke, pulling on a white muscle shirt over his well toned torso. Yuna noticed that Zenos was trying to unfold his black muscle shirt. Whoa, there was a good example of the male body right there. She flushed and shook her head.

"Um, because I was wondering if it was okay to wear pajamas down to breakfast." Yuna replied, fully conscious of how her boxers were slung around her hips and how her top hugged to her torso.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. For breakfast, we always eat in the kitchen with everyone. We've made it a tradition to just wear whatever." Zenos finally got his shirt unfolded properly and put it on.

Yuna sighed, "That's a relief. I don't think I'm awake enough to change."

The brothers gave a good-natured chuckle and Zach suggested, "Let's go on ahead down." He started down the stairs.

Yuna and Zenos followed silently. Neither were fully conscious enough to engage in conversation.

Zach, Yuna, and Zenos were the first in the kitchen, followed immediately by Zelos, Rory, and Lucas. A few moments later, they were joined by Andrew and Caleb. Miralle, Roelle, Gale, Robyn, Antony, and Nari didn't stumble into the kitchen for another twenty minutes. At that time, all the coffee, hot chocolate, plates, and food were fully prepared. Everyone in the kitchen, even the servants, and the chef, Hallo, were decked out in an array of pajamas, robes, and slippers.

Hallo, the chef, was an irritable guy, but he was good natured. He was half faery and half nymph, shown by his nimble grace and his white eyes. The large group thanked him for the wonderful meal and, much more awake, were ready to face the day. For the banquet that night, the guests had to go shop for suitable attire. Due to this, everyone agreed to split up for this mission. The four girls were escorted by Naleen, whom they found to be very enjoyable. The remaining seven guys were under the leadership of Zach, since Zelos and Zenos had to talk politics.

At lunchtime, the girls were chatting animatedly outside of a cafe, eating and drinking. They were discussing various male superstars that had come to rise since the invention of movies and television a century ago.

"Yuna, who do you think is the most _gorgeous_ male on the face of the planet?" Nari grinned evilly.

"Oh, c'mon! Do you realize how _impossible_ a question that is!" Yuna protested. "I mean, there are _quite_ a few beautiful specimans of the male body!"

"Okay, just one off the top of everyone's head!" Nari declared. "I say Daniel Radcliffe from the Harry Potter series."

"He's okay." Miralle shrugged, then exclaimed, "Orlando Bloom from Pirates of the Caribbean is the hottest guy in existence!

Robyn nodded agreement, then grinned, "Viggo Mortenson- he did Lord of the Rings- he's pretty good-looking."

"Yeah, I can live with that. Since all the others are taken, I say Antonio Banderas from Mask of Zorro is totally sexy." Yuna declared emphatically.

"How about you, Naleen?" Miralle asked the blue-skinned girl.

Naleen flushed and meekly said, "I think that Mark Harmon, from NCIS, is very handsome for his age."

Nari, Yuna, Miralle, and Robyn glanced at each other and nodded approvingly. As the conversation progressed, they were laughing before Yuna was suddenly choked from behind.

"Gale! I can't breathe!" Yuna gasped, trying to remove Gale's arms from around her neck.

"You are not!" Gale retorted, but loosened his grip anyways. "How's your shopping going?"

"Nari's the only one who's found anything so far." Robyn supplied for Yuna, who was trying to regain her breath.

"Naleen, I hope they're behaving for you." Zach grinned at the girls impudently.

"Of course they are, Master Zach!" Naleen laughed, a pleasant chiming sound.

"Roelle, have any of you found anything so far?" Miralle asked her brother. Roelle shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm starting to think it's hopeless."

The others laughed at his comment. Nari glanced at the town clock and stood up, "C'mon, girls. We've still got three more dresses to go and only five more hours. We'll see you guys later."

The girls left, leaving the eight guys staring at each other.

"They didn't just do that..." Roelle turned to his companions.

"Did they?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"They did." Lucas slapped a hand to his forehead.

"They left and-" Andrew's eye started a tic before he was interrupted by Gale's furious, "Stuck _us_ with the bill! Yuna, you are _so_ in for it!"

"Truth be told, it was Nari." Caleb pointed out.

"We should just pay and go find our stuff." Zach left the money on the table and herded the guys back onto the street. "We'll have to go to Zenos for a prank of revenge."

"I thought you were the master of pranks?" Lucas said.

"I start the prank war, but Zenos _always_ tops mine in his revenge." Zach explained sagely with a nod.

"You guys are weird." Andrew snorted.

The banquet was at 8:30 that evening. The girls returned at 5:30 and took all of two and a half hours to get ready.

The banquet was to take place in the palace, a five minute walk from the Wylder mansion. The ten guys waited outside the mansion doors, talking as they waited for the appearance of the four girls. They all examined the other's tuxes, helping to straighten it if needed. At long last, the girls made their appearance.

Miralle wore a red dress that fell to her knees, with a slight v-neck cut and no sleeves. Gold platform shoes laced up her calves and a topaz sun was visible on her right ankle. Her hair was elegantly put up in a bun with a few strands of golden hair hanging in her eyes. A gold chain hung around her hips and she held a red shawl in her hands.

Robyn was clothed in an emerald green strapless dress that fell to the floor with silver embroidery along the torso. Silver ribbons contained part of her long white hair in a plait. The rest was flowing free as always. A silver necklace with an opal butterfly was around her neck. She grasped a silver shawl around her elbows.

Nari had a black toga-like dress that went to her knees. A gold and zircon brooch in the shape of a celtic circle decorated the sleeve on her right shoulder. She wore strapped black heels on her feet and an ankle braclet on one foot. Her hair was to just beneath her shoulderblades, with curls and zircon clips arranged in her hair. She grasped a gold shawl in her hands.

Yuna wore a royal blue and white dress. It was a spaghetti strap that also had white sleeves hanging off her shoulders. The right sleeve covered up her rose tattoo very well. The torso was blue until it reached about her belly button, where it slit off, revealing white underneath. The dress reached the floor in the traditional ballgown style. Her hair was down to about midback with her bangs clipped back by a barrette of pearls. A choker was around her neck, with a pearl charm. She had a white shawl around her elbows.

The guys were all speechless. They felt very outclassed, wearing tuxes of varying color.

"Yuna?" Gale approached his friend. He was wearing a midnight blue tuxedo with an ice blue vest and tie underneath the coat. Nothing, unfortunately, could be done for his messy hair. "Is that you?"

"Gale, don't be an idiot. Of course that's her!" Nari drawled, passing by to go and talk to Andrew in his gray tux with white vest and tie. His hair had been slicked back.

"Hey!" Gale exclaimed.

"Gale, you look very nice, too!" Yuna grasped her best friend's hands with a grin.

"Dashingly so, right?" Gale smirked.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far." Yuna scoffed. Gale wasn't deflated in the least. "A dashingly handsome man should have a pretty girl on his arm!"

"Ah, that would be _me_, my friend!" Zenos appeared and took Yuna's arm. Zenos was wearing a black tux and a red vest and tie. His hair was smoothed and he had some strands falling across his forehead.

Gale scowled at him and then laughed, "Okay, we'll share!" He took Yuna's other arm.

"Gale, you're worse than a brother sometimes." Yuna pointed out.

"If I don't keep an eye on you, your brothers will kill me." Gale sniffed.

Yuna shook her head in despair.

"Do Miralle, Nari, and Robyn object to being shared as well?" Zelos asked.

The three glanced at each other with a laugh and agreed. Miralle had Roelle, who wore a dark red tux and a gold vest and tie, and Lucas, who wore a white tux with a silver vest and tie. Robyn was sharing with Rory, who wore a navy blue tux and black vest and a bowtie and Caleb, who wore a silver tux with an emerald green vest and tie. Nari was saddled with Andrew and Antony, wearing a black tux and a dark green vest and bowtie. Zelos, who was wearing his Narcissist outfit, and Zach, garbed in a white tux and red vest and tie, glanced at each other, hooked arms, and skipped ahead of the group, singing rather suggestive songs.

"Zelos! Some excuse of a guardian you are!" Zenos yelled after the two, who stopped and laughed, waiting for the others to catch up.

"Don't forget, guys," Zelos warned them, "You've got to call me Zetos."

Everyone nodded and they went inside the palace without any difficulties. They sat at their designated table, eating and chatting for a while before the dancing began and Zenos and Rory had to go to the Council of Bloods.

Yuna was dancing with Zelos, who seemed to be lost in thought rather than thinking about dancing. "Zelos?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Zelos seemed to return to earth. "I don't like the sound of these TEBOs."

"What exactly are they?" Yuna's brow knit.

"Tracing and Energy Boosting Orbs. If all Halflings, for lack of a better word, were equipped with these, it would be possible for the owner and the government to track their every move. Also, as the name implies, they make the user stronger, gives them more speed, and pretty much unbeatable endurance." Zelos explained. He was silent as he spun Yuna out. When she returned to him, he added, "They sound innocent enough- just like a stimulant, really, but I don't like it. I have a bad feeling about them, so I told Zenos to vote against it."

"That won't get the family in trouble, will it?" Yuna inquired, looking up into his face. Wow, he was taller than she thought.

Zelos gave her an approving nod. "No. Astros knows where the Wylder family stands on this subject. We'll be fine as long as-"

There was an explosion as the entry doors burst open and slammed against the wall. The music stopped and the crowd of people turned to see who would dare enter the palace in such a fit.

It was a man with vivid red hair that fell to his waist with a black ribbon tying it in a ponytail. His eyes were a strange gold and glittered with anger. He was sturdily built and a tall, imposing figure. A woman followed him, trying to calm him down. He brushed her off and strode to the room where the Council of Bloods was taking place. He slammed the door behind him in the poor woman's face. Her large blue eyes were downcast as she tucked a strand of ebony hair back into place. She felt the stares of the shocked crowd. "I apologize, everyone. You know how Zatos like to be dramatic."

This seemed to break the tension. The music struck up once again and the nobles all fell to dancing and conversations once again.

Zelos sighed and shook his head. "Let's go sit down." he massaged his temples.

Yuna suddenly recalled Zenos' words. "_Zelos was always there for me. He's my father- not my biological father. Dad's always out of town for one reason or another and he's always with some woman everytime I turn around, since Mom died when I was 3._" And what was it that Zach had said? "_His name to the general public is Zetos, in accordance with family tradition, which is that the firstborn have a name similar to Zelos, or Seles if it's a girl_."

Yuna sat beside Zelos at the table. "Zelos. Don't tell me that was Zenos and Zach's father."

Zelos sighed again. "Yes, unfortunately." He got a few drinks off of a tray that a servant was carrying around and gave one to Yuna. "Since Zatos is here now, he can cause a lotta trouble with the Council." He knocked back a glass of wine.

"How so?"

"The present king, Astros, approves of a unified House and sticking to your morals. Now that Zatos has shown up, he can present a discordant Wylder house to the public and create strife for us. If he keeps this up, he'll end up making Astros ban the Wylder house from Court affairs for a while until we can get everything sorted out. 'If you can't be united, then you're no use to me.' Those would be his words." Zelos quickly drained another wine. "He's the bad apple in the family."

"Why would he do that?" Yuna shook her head, confused.

"Zatos aspires to be king. Astros wants a united front, right? Well, if Zatos stirs things up enough, brings up controversial subjects, like these TEBOs, he can get people to support him and his views. Eventually, he could impeach the King on some bogus charge and, if he gets enough votes from the nobles and general population, become king." Zelos stole Rory's wine, since he wasn't there.

Yuna sighed. "He's completely messed up."

"Definitely not one of my better descendants, I'll admit." Zelos eyed Yuna's wine, stole it when she wasn't looking, and drained it.

"Zetos, is that you?"

Zelos and Yuna looked up to see the woman who had come in with Zatos.

"Oh, I thought that was you, Tianna." Zelos stood and bowed. "How have you been?"

Tianna sighed. "I've been better. Zatos worked himself into a fit when he got home and found out that Zenos had to take his place on the Council of Bloods."

Zelso nodded agreement. "I know what you're talking about. He's got a horrible temper. I really don't know where it comes from."

Yuna suppressed a giggle and excused herself, leaving the two to talk. She wandered over to the refreshments to get a drink for herself. She slowly drank some wine. Hmm, it wasn't too bad.

Getting a refill, she also got an especially large glass for Zelos and another glass for Tianna. When she returned, the two were still talking.

"I thought you guys could use a drink, Zetos." Yuna handed Zelos his large drink.

"Ah, thanks, my Sapphire." Zelos referred to when they had first met. Yuna gave a small chuckle and offered Tianna the other glass as Zelos drank deeply.

"I'm Yuna Sounsa, by the way." Yuna added.

"Oh, thank you." Tianna accepted the glass. "I'm Tianna Vring." Tianna examined Yuna. "I can't say I've seen you before."

"Yuna is one of eleven guests currently staying with us." Zelos explained. "She's the daughter of a friend of the family."

"_True enough, I suppose._" Yuna thought with a wry smile.

"Ah, wonderful!" Tianna gave a breath of relief, "I'm not the only female in the house."

Yuna gave a small laugh. "Far from it. Although seven of the guests are boys."

Tianna shook her head. "We just can't win, can we?"

Suddenly, the Council doors opened. The nobles and the King, a powerfully built man with curly black hair, vivid green eyes, and a thick beard, appeared, conversation flowing.

Zatos looked pleased with himself. Zenos and Rory were talking, both of their faces unreadable. King Astros looked relieved. A messenger scurried by Yuna's table.

Zelos leaned down to Yuna, who was sitting. "Get Zenos away from Zatos. _Now_."

Yuna answered by standing and carefully making her way towards Zenos and Zatos. Rory had been snatched by Robyn for a dancing. Zatos seemed to be talking to Zenos, whose jaw was clenched.

Yuna approached Zenos with a bright smile. "Zenos, finally!" she interrupted Zatos, who seemed to be startled. "I just got away from Zetos and I would like the dance you promised me! C'mon!"

Yuna grasped Zenos' hands and pulled him onto the dance floor.

Zenos hissed at her, "What are you doing?"

"Dancing." Yuna gave him another smile.

He scoffed. "You know what I mean."

The dance became a waltz. Without missing a beat, they smoothly changed their style, her hand on his left shoulder and the other in his right hand. His left hand rested on her waist. "You were scaring me." Yuna admitted. "And Zelos told me that I needed to, so I figured that was a good enough reason."

Zenos sighed. "Not now. I don't want to talk about it."

Yuna nodded. "Just come to me whenever you're ready."

Zenos nodded. "I promise."

"Wonderful. Now that that's settled, let's enjoy the rest of the evening." Yuna smiled at him.

Zenos spun her out and when she returned to him, he trapped her in his embrace, her back to him. "Yeah."

She relaxed in his arms. Yuna lifed her face to look at him. She wrinkled her nose. "You're really tall."

He laughed. "Yeah, I think it runs in the family."

The banquet lasted until midnight. When it was over, the guests all piled out of the palace to return to their houses. The Wylders and their guests, including Zatos and Tianna, returned to the Wylder mansion.

With the exception of Miralle, Roelle, and Antony, the group was either tipsy or drunk from the wine. The five minute walk took ten minutes as everyone walked slowly. Zenos, Zach, Zelos, and Gale all sang lewd songs and Tianna, Yuna, Nari, and Robyn danced to them, bodies twisting and hips swaying. The remainder of the boys, excluding Roelle, who looked embarrassed, and Antony, the boys all cheered, encouraging the girls to dance even more. Yuna burst into song, singing and dancing all the way to the house. Zenos joined in with her, as did Nari, Andrew, and Lucas.

Once in the house, everyone voted for another party, excluding Zatos, who promptly went to bed.

"He's not a partier." Tianna shook her head sadly.

"We'll make up for it!" Zelos cheered, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Zenos pumped up the music on their stereo, blaring out all different kinds. A little bit of rap, a dash of rock, some country, and then some R&B. Later, Yuna and Zenos sang for everyone. Zelos, Gale, and Zach all tried to sing too, but sharp objects were rapidly thrown at them and Yuna and Zenos had to take the stage again.

By the time that everyone was in bed, it was time to get up again.

**Yesh, those nicknames are supposed to be like titles, so I decided that maybe I should add a little sentence like how they do on the game, y'know? Hehe, they're in order, so... yeah. **

**All shall fall to the grace of his katana. His actions speak through the sword.**

**When her anger is evoked, none will escape her wrath. All beware her temper. **

**Complaint Box? Whaddya mean, complaint box? I don't think this is right! I don't complain about everything! I'm not complaining about this, am I!**

**Her kindness knows no bounds. She would give a hand to a lost person and a smile to a frowning person. Her presence radiates her compassion.**

**He shall guard those close to him. He shall protect those who have a place in his heart. He shall show compassion for those who are lost, but no mercy to those with evil wills. **

**His silence is cold. He speaks to no one. He is made of ice.**

**In all situations, he is calm. Rational is his frame of mind. Good qualities for any leader.**

**His quietness is because of his thoughts. The wheels in his head are always turning, providing him with little time for meaningless conversation.**

**Respectful, willing to listen, courteous. Truly a noble man among nobles.**

**She lives like the wind. Here one moment, gone the next. Life goes around her as she drifts on the wind.**

**She love laughter and she loves fun. Always optimistic, she looks for all the wonderful things in life.**

**He is a knight who shocks all with his sword, his magic powers, and his personality. He is a knight among knights.**

**Once again, apologies to everyone. I didn't take as long to update this time. I think. ;;; Please read and review!**

**Ethereal Thoughts**


	8. Chapter 8

_And now, I present to you... Chapter eight! And in less than 30 days, too, I believe! pats self on back Although, it's only because I'm on summer break right now. And for about another two months, too! Yay!_

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Kudos!_

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Several weeks had passed since the group had taken up residence in the Wylder mansion. Yet, they hadn't found anything out- not a clue as to what they should do or even a hint in the general direction of their paths. However, they made sure to keep themselves occupied, with the exception of Tianna and Zatos. They had left for Altamira almost as soon as they arrived.

Hallo accepted Robyn and Rory as his cooking protegès. Constantly, there was the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen. ("Rory takes after Regal. I don't know where in the world Robyn got her talents from." Zelos commented one evening. "'cause Raine sure as hell couldn't cook anything to save her life.")

Lucas and Miralle found themselves rifling through various rooms in the mansion, organizing them. Naleen was horrifed when she discovered that she couldn't find all the soaps and laundry equipment in the laundry room.

Gale and Roelle kept occupied by playing on the virtual reality games that Zenos and Zach played when they were younger. And sleeping. They slept a lot since they tended to stay up late. Roelle would walk around on the roof and in the courtyard and Gale would read. He was determined to learn as much as he could about magic and mana.

Antony, Nari, Caleb, Zenos, and Yuna stayed busy by playing music. They decided that if they were going to be bringing in money, they might as well be good at it and earn a lot more at one time. One evening, they decided to have another session outside of their usual time, so they agreed to meet at 11:00 that night in the living room.

Yuna was outside the door of the living room when she heard someone playing the piano. She listened momentarily to the wonderful sound before stepping in. The music didn't stop as she left the door open and made her way to the piano. She gave a wry grin. Of all people, it was Andrew, his eyes closed as he played the piece from memory. When he opened his eyes, he abruptly stopped.

"That was wonderful, Andrew." Yuna grinned at the flushing man. "We need a keyboardist for our little band- won't you join us?"

Andrew exclaimed, "Heck, no! Why would I want to join a sissy band?"

Yuna crossed her arms. "We aren't a sissy band- not any less than you are."

"I'm not a sissy!"

"That's my point, idiot!" Yuna huffed. "Okay, fine, I'll have to cancel out the piano duet with Nari! Thanks a lot! That would have been a wonderful piece! But, _noooo_, you had to go and ruin it! Imbeceile!"

Andrew was silent, then muttered something.

"Sorry, what was that?" Yuna glowered at him, rifling to find the piece.

"I said, 'I'll help you out!'" He flushed. "But! Only if I decide the duet is good enough!"

"Deal!" Yuna grinned and set his part down in front of him.

Zenos appeared with Zach. "Hey, Zach's offered to play electric guitar with us."

"Cool. Andrew is our new keyboardist!" Yuna proudly proclaimed.

"What!" Zenos and Zach's jaws dropped. "Andrew?"

Andrew started to get a tic in his eye. "Got a problem with it?"

They vigorously shook their heads and took their places.

Nari, Caleb, and Antony joined the group at the same time.

"Two new members?" Caleb asked.

"_Whoa_!" Nari stopped in her tracks. "Andrew plays piano!"

"Yup!" Yuna happily gave out parts that she had composed for their newest song. "Now, I've got a full band! I'm so happy!"

"You certainly sound it." Zenos commented, reading over his lyrics.

"Yup! Now, you guys ready?" Yuna readied herself. "One, two, three, four-"

A few days later, everyone was in their usual routine. However, Yuna and Zenos were compiling new lyrics. So, they had an audience that day- Miralle, Roelle, Gale, Lucas, Robyn, and Rory. As Yuna and Zenos argued about the lyrics and such, most of the people were laughing.

Naleen came in and stopped the argument. "I apologize, Master Zenos, for ruining your entertainment, but we have a visitor who wishes to speak with you. He waits at the entrance."

"Very well. Thank you, Naleen." Zenos got up and went to the front door. He glared at Yuna, who innocently smiled back. As soon as he closed the living room door, she immediately began to write down lyrics on the designated paper and scratched his out. Laughter ensued from the room. Zenos groaned and shook his head.

The visitor was a young man- about 20- with blood red eyes and midnight blue hair. His hair had been fashioned in a strange way- his bangs were spiked on the left side and the right side hung over his right eye. The back, however, was the reverse- with the right side spiked up and the left side smooth. His clothes were like any other visiting noble's- clean, crisp, and expensive.

"I am Zenos Wylder, master in my father's absence. How may I help you?" Zenos politely asked.

"Lord Wylder, my name is Lord Brenner. I am here on behalf of the king. The king has just issued an edict that all nobles are to be identified with a Savior Stone. These stones are physical manifestations of repentance from the God and Goddess and so shall grant you a longer life. They shall also mark you as noble so that there shall be no class mingling." Lord Brenner stated in a baritone voice. "I am here to take your orders- these stones are able to be produced in any color and shape you so wish."

Zenos mulled over this. Astros was an avid believer in the God and Goddess, so it would make sense that he would spread the influence to his noble class. However, what was up with that 'marking the nobles' stuff? Astros was one of the kings who evaded discrimination and approved the mingling of nobles and commoners. Zenos' brow furrowed. Perhaps Astros was being put up to this.

"I don't really know. Do you have a written order?" Zenos asked warily.

"Certainly, my Lord." With a flourish, Brenner produced a paper. Zenos examined it closely, then shrugged his approval.

"It's certainly the king's handwriting and seal. I cannot evade an edict without serious repercussions." Zenos handed the paper back. "Is it for the whole family?"

"Indeed." Lord Brenner nodded.

"Zach! C'mere!" Zenos called over his shoulder. "Put my order down as an amethyst purple lightening bolt."

Lord Brenner made a note of that as Zach appeared and Zenos filled him in.

"Oh, I dunno. Red and round?" Zach shrugged. His eyes suddenly flicked upwards. "Actually, no. Make it turquoise blue and a circle."

Lord Brenner wrote it down. "Thank you, Lord Wylder and Master Wylder. They shall be back before this day next week."

"You'll have to get our father some other time." Zach mentioned.

"Ah, he has already received one- before he left the city."

"Oh, I see."

"Then, I shall take my leave. Thank you, once again." Lord Brenner gave a small bow and left to go to the next house.

"What was that all about?" Nari inquired, plucking the strings on her acoustic guitar as the brothers resumed their seats.

"Something from the king. Don't worry about it." Zenos picked up the lyrics, where he had left off. "Yuna! What the hell is this!"

Hilarity ensued once again as Zenos continued to argue with Yuna. However, it was easily interrupted as Zelos roared into the living room, red hair wild. "Let's go on a picnic today!" He jumped into Zenos' lap.

Zenos grimaced and pushed him off. Zelos landed on the floor with a loud thump. "Why? This is a little sudden for you."

"Because! We have to! There's no reason that we _shouldn't_!" Zelos grinned up at the descendants. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I have energy to spare! You don't want me to take it out on Yuna, Robyn, and Nari, do you?"

Yuna flushed, Robyn laughed, and Nari jumped up, screaming, "Lock him up and throw away the key!"

As Zenos and Andrew punched Zelos flat onto his back, Miralle wondered, "Why didn't he include me?"

"I'm afraid of your brother's wrath." Zelos pointed to Roelle's glowering face. You could almost see the fire in his eyes.

"I guess that's a good thing." Miralle hugged her brother with a giggle. Roelle laughed.

Zelos proclaimed, "Energy! Energy must be burned!" He sidled up to Yuna and put an arm around her. Yuna burst out into laughter as he began to tickle her.

Zenos groaned. This could _not_ end well.

"Guys, let's just go along with Zelos." Zach nodded sagely. "There are times when it's best to humor him."

"Oh, I'm sure you know _everything_." Andrew muttered as he left the room to change into warm-weather attire.

Suddenly, there was a dramatic groan from Zelos as he fell on the floor. Yuna hovered and squeaked, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you gonna be okay?"

"What happened?" Zenos sighed. He _knew_ something was gonna happen.

"While he was tickling me, I accidentally kicked him..." Yuna flushed.

"Serves you right, you idiot." Zenos bent to pick him up.

The thirteen descendants and one re-energized Zelos set out on their picnic a half hour later, carrying a variety of picnic baskets and blankets. For this venture, they had opted to walk outside of the city, into the surrounding summer countryside. They headed south, towards the Foiji mountains, so that they could find some large trees to eat under. Since monsters had suddenly started to appear again, they had some designated fighters- Zenos, Zelos, Zach, Andrew, and Gale. They walked, conversing with the others as their eyes scanned the horizon.

Zach suddenly stopped, close to a stand of trees and a small creek. Lucas, who had become fast friends with him, noticed this. "Hey, Zach, what's wrong?"

Zach stared at the creek before taking off, with no reply. Lucas darted after him, yelling over his shoulder, "Be on your guard!"

The group immediately went into a defensive position, with most of the heads towards them. They saw the two stoop in the creek and lift something up. Then came the cry of Zach. "We need a healer over here!"

Nari, Zelos, and Zenos ran over to them immediately. The remaining eight people moved after them more slowly, taking care of their lunch and watching for hostile life forms. They reached the five people in good time and found them perched over a bloodied and dirty body.

Zenos and Nari snapped, "Get out a blanket," without looking up.

Rory and Robyn complied, seeing as how they were the ones in charge of the blankets. They promptly laid one out beside the body. Zach and Lucas lifted the body onto the blanket and Zelos and Nari began to clean it, to see where all of the wounds were. Lucas and Zach backed away to let Zenos in to help Zelos and Nari. After all, they weren't healers.

Gale grinned at Zach. "You have good eyes, man."

Zach chuckled as he rubbed the white headband that he wore across his forehead. "Then why do I feel like I've just thrown us into something disasterous?"

Momentarily, the body was healed. As the dirt was scraped away, Zenos flushed and put a piece of cloth back into place. "Our body is a girl." Her hair was long and had pieces of twigs, leaves, and sand mixed in with the mud that had cemented into her hair. Her dress was dingy brown and tattered in so many places that it barely covered up the essentials.

Robyn covered her with another blanket after they moved her under a tree. Gale suggested, "While she's resting, why don't we eat here? We could cool off the watermelons in the creek."

"Good idea." Rory agreed as he and Robyn began to lay out the rest of the blankets.

Her vision swam before her. With a groan, she opened her eyes and immediately shut them against the glare of a spot of sun shining down through her canopy of leaves. After her eyes had adjusted, she sat up and observed her surroundings.

She was resting on a blanket near a large crowd, who seemed to be eating. Three of them had vivid red hair, another with dusky red hair and another two had the same facial structure, with gold hair. Another two had white hair and one other had sea-blue hair, while another had icy blue hair. The remaining three consisted of curly gold hair, spiked brown hair, and midnight blue hair.

Lucas noticed the girl was sitting up. "Hey, guys, our guest is up."

Thirteen other heads swiveled in her direction.

Yuna stood and went to the girl. "How are you feel- Ena!" Yuna blinked, then exclaimed in a mixture of happiness and confusion, "Ena, is that you?"

"Ena?" the girl's sky blue eyes were confused. "Is that my name?" Then she cocked her head to one side. "Have we met before?"

Yuna's eyes widened in concern. "You don't remember me? We were best friends growing up in Phalneyr. Don't you remember how we would take Ryu's action figures and play house with them?"

Gale snickered and was promptly punched by Robyn.

The girl shook her head. "No, none of it. Ena seems to feel right, though. What was my name?"

Yuna's brows creased. She sighed and answered, "Your name is Valena Lockwind. Your family and friends called you Ena, though."

Ena nodded. "Thank you." She gazed at Yuna and gave a small smile. "Your personality- your heart, I suppose is a better word- it feels familiar. I think I _have_ met you somewhere before."

"I hope it'll all come back to you with time. Until then, you're not leaving my sight." Yuna declared.

Zach sighed and put his arms around Zenos and Zelos. "Well, guys, looks like we have another addition to our large, insane family."

"Yup!" Zelos grinned. Zenos chuckled, "Large and insane, indeed."

Nari and Lucas helped to take charge of Ena. They helped her eat while everyone else backed up. When she had finished, Zelos offered to give her a piggyback ride into town. Naturally, Zenos was a little suspicious, but didn't say anything.

Once they had returned to the Wylder mansion, Naleen immediately kidnapped Ena to tidy her up. She was last seen by the group being marched off to a bathroom.

As usual, the group retreated to the living room. Yuna kept to herself, which was unusual for her. Zenos sat beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him and gave him an absentminded grin. Her eyes looked at her, but they didn't- they were staring past him as she was lost in her thoughts. After receiving an agreeing nod from Gale not to talk to her, Zenos leaned back into the couch.

"Guys, let's cheer up!" Zelos broke the tense silence. "I vote that we have a welcoming party tonight for Miss Ena and get hilariously drunk."

Zach agreed and leapt up. "I second that motion! We could all use another good party, anyways!"

"It seems that Neotokio is a lot of parties and politics are on the side." Robyn off-handedly commented.

"Precisely!" Zelos cheered. "Yuna, use diversionary tactics while the rest of us prepare, alright?"

Yuna looked at him, surprised. Zelos grinned as he helped her off the couch, "Maybe spending time with you will help make her memories come back that much quicker."

"Y'know, Zelos, you're not as dumb as you act." Caleb mentioned.

Zelos pouted, "Hey! Harsh!"

Naleen appeared before the situation could worsen. "Master Zelos, I have encountered a small problem."

"Wait, Naleen knows who you are?" Roelle interjected, a confused look on his face.

"Certainly. She is bound to us for life, as are all the rest of our servants. They are also sworn under a vow that is reinforced with magic that they shall never tell and it shall never slip past their lips." Zelos returned his attention to Naleen with a broad smile, "Yes, what is it, my lovely one?"

"Miss Ena has been properly cleaned, but... her garbing..." Naleen brought her in. "I could only find a pair of Master Zelos' breeches and one of Master Zach's shirts."

Ena's hair was a radiant gold that showered down to her knees. Naleen had adorned her in a baggy pair of white breeches and a white shirt that was quite loose on her.

"Oh, Yuna, take her for clothes, won't you?" Zelos tossed Yuna a bag of gald. "I trust you know the city well enough?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." She added to with a grin, "Besides, I can always stop and ask for directions." She directed this last statement at Gale.

"Hey! Low blow!" Gale complained.

The others looked bewildered as Yuna led Ena out the door. "C'mon, Ena, let's blow this taco stand."

After they heard the doors close decisively, they turned to Gale.

"What was that?" Lucas grinned.

"She's referring to the time we got lost on our class trip to Luin. Long story. Ask later, plan party now." Gale reminded them. They immediately flew into a flurry of activity.

Yuna and Ena returned a good four hours later to a rousing party. Ena was presented to the partiers in a white dress that was trimmed with blue and reached to mid-thigh. It was a turtleneck with no sleeves and her hair had been bound in two french braids. Her boots were also white with blue trimmings and reached to mid-calf.

Zelos gave a wolf-whistle. "Great job, Yuna! And welcome to our crazy, large family, Ena!"

Ena gave a warm smile as everyone cheered and welcomed her. "Thank you, everyone. This means a lot to me."

"Ena, can you dance?" Yuna asked her friend over the loud music.

Ena shrugged.

Yuna laughed and said, "Watch me, see if you can remember."

Yuna began to roll her hips and wave her arms in the air. Ena attempted to copy her and found that her body moved on its own to the beat of the music.

"Yeah!" Yuna gave her a cheer. "You remember!"

"It's more like my _body_ remembers it! But, whatever! This is fun!" Ena laughed, dancing to the music.

Surprisingly, Naleen decided to join them and danced with them in her maid outfit. Nari sauntered over to them, as did Robyn. They formed a dancing pod, soon enough.

Zenos and Zach were standing with Zelos by the drinks. They saw Zelos eyeing the five dancing friends and shouted, "No!"

He looked at them, confused. "Whaddya mean, 'no!' I can't watch five girls and appreciate their forms! If I don't, you two defintely won't!"

"Screw 'appreciate their forms!' I'm gonna dance with them!" Zach shoved his drink into Zelos' hand and went to join them.

"You're on your own, Zelos!" Zenos quickly followed suit.

Zelos grinned broadly to no one in particular.

By the end of the party, it was three o'clock in the morning. Miralle had gone to bed at midnight and Roelle went out on his usual stroll under the night sky. Antony had scorned the party and moved to his bedroom to do whatever it was that Antony does in his room.

Towards the end of the party, the bodies ruled. There was no rational thought. Zelos was murmuring to Naleen, who sat in his lap, nodding. Robyn was being escorted to her room by Rory. Gale and Lucas were stumbling up to their rooms, also, trying to tell stories about their lives, but that wasn't going so well. Nari and Andrew were sitting by the fireplace, throwing sarcastic comments to each other. Zach had to carry Ena, who had fallen asleep in a chair, up to her room. Yuna and Zenos decided to go outside and get some fresh air before they went to sleep.

Yuna fell back onto the soft grass of the courtyard and looked up at the stars. "Aren't they beautiful, Zenos?"

He gazed up at them from his standing position. "Yeah. Even if it's kinda hard to see them 'cause everything's blurry."

Yuna giggled and stood beside him again. With a smile at him, she laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. "It'd be nice if everything could stay like this, wouldn't it?" Yuna murmured.

She felt the vibration as he spoke. "Yes, it would be. But the fate that brought us together will make our bond stronger, I think."

"Yeah." Yuna nodded her agreement.

Zenos gazed at her head. He stroked her hair, which had come loose from its two ponytails. With a content sigh, she snuggled her head against his chest more. They heard Zelos say something and slow music began to play.

Zenos whispered in her ear, "May I have this dance, Yuna?"

"Yes, you may, Zenos." she turned her face up to him and put her arms around his neck. They swayed to the slow beat of the music. Yuna put her head on his chest again. He placed a small kiss on her head. She smiled, as did he. When the song finished, they stopped and remained in each other's embrace.

Then, Zenos gripped Yuna's chin gently and tilted it towards him. Their eyes locked, sea-green gazing into sea-green, and they slowly leaned towards the other. Their lips met. The two felt like an electric jolt had gone through them. After a few moments, Yuna pulled away and gave him a smile. "Good night, Zenos."

She began to untangle herself from him in a slow way and turned to the door. She took a few steps before her hand was grasped and she was spun around. Zenos pulled her to him and kissed her again, this time more passionately. Yuna didn't draw back from him- she kissed him with equal fervor before breaking it again. This time, she ran from him. She paused to look at him, a flush in her cheeks. Then, she was gone, running to her room.

Zenos stared after her. He sat down on a stone bench and leaned back, against the tree. The way she had felt in his arms- it was so right. Why did she run? He could tell that she returned his feelings to some degree- it was there in the way she kissed. He shook his head with a groan. He stood and headed to his room.

The next day, Zenos and Yuna greeted each other with the same friendliness, as did everyone.

"Does anyone remember anything after midnight? Or have all our memories been wiped because of some evil plot we cooked up?" Gale commented, holding his head.

"I have a killer headache." Nari moaned.

"I have just the fixer upper!" Zelos plonked a cup down in front of everyone. "On the count of three, we drink, okay?"

Miralle, Roelle, and Antony looked on with an amused face as they all drank it on three. They all immediately gagged and Zach bellowed, "Zelos! What the heck are you trying to do? Kill us!"

"You don't have a headache now, do you?" Zelos smugly smiled.

They all glanced at one another and muttered, "No."

"Good! You all owe me some thanks!" Zelos puffed his chest out and crossed his arms.

"Thanks, Zelos!" Yuna gave him a peck on the cheek. "C'mon, Ena, let's go play some chess."

"Okay." Ena followed Yuna out the room.

Zelos smirked at Zenos triumphantly. Zenos marched over to Zelos and poured the horrid drink over his shocked head.

For the next three days, Yuna and Ena spent most of their time together. Yuna was trying to help her remember the past and discovering what Ena did remember. This time together also forged a new friendship between them.

On the day of Lord Brenner's return, Yuna and Ena had gone into the courtyard to train and Zelos had mysteriously gone missing again. Rory was the only other one of the group who remained at home, awaiting his Savior stone, as well. Rory explained that Brenner had sent him a letter explaining all and that he had replied. So, he figured it was best to wait at the mansion until the stone arrived. The other nine people had all gone out to spend a day in the city.

Naleen answered the door and brought Brenner to Zenos and Zach, who were playing a chess game.

"Ah, Lord Brenner. I presume our stones are ready?" Zenos stood.

"That they are, Lord Wylder." Lord Brenner bowed. "Here is yours and your brother's."

He extended an amethyst in the shape of a lightening bolt to Zenos. It was outlaid with silver that had charms carved into it. The other was a turquoise ring outlaid with charmed gold, which he held out to Zach. "I would recommend putting them over your heart or onto your writing hand."

The brothers both put the stones onto the backs of their right hands. It didn't hurt them at all as it sank into their flesh a little.

"I hear that Duke Bryant is here? His order has been prepared as well." Brenner held out an aquamarine trident outlaid in charmed silver. "Could you give it to him?"

"Certainly." Zenos accepted it.

Brenner checked off a list three times and bowed again. "Thank you for your cooperation." With that, he showed himself out.

"Well, that was different." Zach shrugged. "Hurry up and make your move."

Zenos glanced at the board and moved a piece. "Checkmate. Now, help me find Rory."

Zach groaned and followed his brother to the kitchen, where they delivered Rory's stone. He accepted it without surprise and put it on his left hand.

The brothers returned to the living room to play another game of chess. They sat down and began to set up.

"Ahhhhhhh-gh!"

Zenos exclaimed, "That sounded like Yuna!"

They quickly made their way to the courtyard. There, they found Yuna in a heap against a wall with Ena staring blankly ahead, a strange scepter in her hand. Her workout shirt had been sliced across the chest.

"Yuna!" Zenos ran to her and immediately checked her for injuries.

Zach cautiously approached Ena, who still hadn't moved. Something glinted off her chest. His brow furrowed. It looked like a Savior stone, a delicate pink color and in the shape of a heart. However, the heart had been cracked and there was no charmed metal on it. Also, just above her heart, there was a tatto of a heart with protective wings flocking it. His fingers flew to his forehead, once again covered by a white headband. Shaking his head, he carefully grasped a shoulder. "Ena?"

She blinked and the glazed look in her eyes disappeared. "Zach? What happened?"

"That's what I was going to ask _you_." he answered. He stepped aside so that Ena could see the state of Yuna. "What happened to her?"

Ena's eyes widened and she stumbled over to Yuna, who was being healed by Zenos. "Yuna! Why can't I remember what happened!" She placed her face in her hands, still holding the scepter, and began to cry tears of frustration.

Zach led her away from Yuna and embraced her. "Go ahead and let it out. You've been through a lot."

She choked out, "I-I don't sl-sleep, I can-can't eat, I k-keep blacking out for-for periods at a time, I f-find out that I can fight innately, I can d-do destructive magic, and this _wolf_ creature keeps talking to me in my _mind_! I can't remem-remember _anything_ and the only thing I _do_ remember is... black- I'm un-underground and in pain- but the pain fades away! The- the noises get louder, my sight becomes clearer and- and my smell becomes stronger! What's happening to me!"

Zach remained there, comforting her, until she had worn herself out and went limp against him. He caught her before she fell to the ground. He lifted her, bridal-style, and looked around, only to find that Zenos had already taken Yuna away. He took Ena up two flights of stairs, marvelling at how light she was, and laid her down in her bed. He noted that she was still holding the scepter in her hand, tightly, even as her eyes were closed. Frowning, he went to look for Zenos and Zelos.

Zach found Zelos first, in his study, looking over a report of some sort. Zelos was frowning as much as he was. "I'll trade with you. Tell me your bad news and I'll tell you what happened with Yuna and Ena." Zach stood in front of the desk.

"Wait, 'what happened with Yuna and Ena?' They were just training, right? I mean, I know I heard Yuna, but I thought Ena had just landed a good blow on her or something- nothing she couldn't handle!" Zelos looked up, alarmed.

Zach quickly recounted what had happened and Ena's words to him.

Zelos's face was rather white when Zach finished. He laid his forehead on the desk and repeatedly banged his head against it.

"Does that actually do anything?" Zach asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"No, but it _does_ make me feel better." Zelos stopped and looked at him. "My turn. You remember Maxwell and Verius?"

"The Summon Spirits of Birth and Heart?"

"Yup, the very ones. Well, they've disappeared as well. So, that's two more people to add to our happy little family. The other thing is the Yggdrasill Tree. Lloyd just sent me a report saying that its mana level is declining. However, he doesn't know the reason. He's hoping that Origin and some of the other spirits will know, so he's asking me to pretty please send Lucas and a few others along to meet him at the Yggdrasill Tree. After I've done that, I'm going to have to split everyone else up to find these two people with Maxwell and Verius."

Zach's fingers immediately rubbed his forehead.

Zelos eyed him suspiciously.

Zach inquired, "When do they have to leave for the Tree?"

"After I've decided who else will go with him." Zelos' sky blue eyes examined Zach momentarily. He leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on a hand. "Y'know, Zach, when did you start wearing that all the time? I mean, I'm flattered that you're trying to impersonate my immaculate handsomeness from 1500 years ago, but still..."

"No, I'm not!" Zach answered with a scowl. "I just thought it looked cool."

Zelos stood up swiftly and slammed his hands on the desks. "Stop lying to me, Zach. I'm pretty old, so I know when people are lying. Why are you wearing it?"

Zach colored with rage. Viciously, he untied it and tore it off. "_There_! _That's_ why!"

In the middle of Zach's forehead, there was a turquoise blue tattoo. It was a circle that had all of the elements- fire, electricity, water, wind, and so on.

Zelos grinned. "Zach, my boy, you are a lucky one, indeed."

"Why?" Zach grudgingly asked.

"You've got the Summon Spirit that is none other than the Maxwell." Zelos clapped him on the back.

Zach was momentarily silent before airily responding, "Oh, is that all?"

Zelos lightly smacked him on the back of his head. "Don't be an idiot. Now, let me see Ena."

Zach put the headband back on and took Zelos to see Ena.

Ena was staring up at her canopy when they entered the room.

"Ena?" Zach approached her.

She didn't respond.

"See?" Zach turned to Zelos. "This is how she was in the courtyard."

"It's the Cruxis Crystal she's got." Zelos motioned to the Savior stone. "It's not got a key crest, so it's turning her into a lifeless angel."

"Zelos, that's a Savior Stone. LIke this one." Zach raised the back of his right hand to show Zelos his.

Zelos' face went deathly white. "You _idiot_! Why the hell do you have one of _those_?"

"Zenos and Rory have one too, by edict of the king. It's called a Savior stone- to grant extended life, show repentance for our sins, and denote our status." Zach calmly explained to Zelos.

"Don't be a dumbass, Zach! It's a fancy name for a Cruxis Crystal! Do you want to be like me- cursed with eternal life?" Zelos exploded, towering over Zach. "Unable to die, unable to age, not allowed to love anyone, watching all your cherished ones die before your eyes! Take the damn thing off!"

"Are you done, Zelos?" Zach said, without moving his stony expression.

Zelos snarled, "Excuse me for having a temper tantrum!"

"Zelos, think about it! It was an edict from King Astros. We couldn't go against it. If you're right, then even he's been fooled by whoever sold these to him." Zach raised up his Stone again. "Besides, can't we take it off at any time, like the days of old?"

Zelos examined the proffered hand. "It looks like there's a crude key crest on it. It'll hold up, but not for long. I want you and Zenos, Rory as well,to tell me immediately when you get wings or when you can't eat, feel, or sleep anymore."

"Wings?" Zach blankly asked.

"Haven't I told you?" Zelos said, puzzled.

"Noooo." Zach drew the word out slowly.

Zelos concentrated and there was a sudden flash of red and gold. On his back, he gently flapped his radiant red-gold wings. Then, with another flash, he put them away. "See?"

"Oh." Zach nodded. "I'll pass it on to Zenos and Rory. The more pressing matter, though- Ena. She's like this because she doesn't have a key crest, right?"

"Yep. I'm gonna go see if Lloyd will come out here and look at her. He's the expert at this stuff." Zelos retreated out the door. "You stand guard. Don't let anyone come near her, not even Yuna."

"Yes, sir!" Zach saluted.

Zelos threw him a dirty look and left. Zach positioned a chair by Ena's bed and settled in, thinking deeply.

Zenos was in the kitchen that evening, cooking dinner for everyone since Hallo had the evening off. He heard the door open and turned to greet whoever it was. Instead of a polite 'Hello,' he got a verbal beating from both the Gleaming Knight and the Eternal Swordsman about the Savior Stones. Rory came in to help and got the same treatment. Just as suddenly as they came in, they left, leaving the two blinking in confusion. "No! The chicken! Save the chicken!" Zenos and Rory rushed to save the blackening bird.

Lloyd sighed. "I thought we'd seen the last of this crap."

"You and me both, bud." Zelos nodded agreement.

"Can you save her?" Zach asked. They were standing beside of Ena's bed. "Yuna will be so sad if you can't."

Lloyd nodded. "Don't worry. I already prepared a key crest. I hope it works, since, y'know, whoever distributed them may have altered them with technology."

Lloyd drew out a necklace and clasped it around her neck. He happened to notice the tattoo as he was positioning the necklace. "She has Verius! Just _who_ is this girl?"

"Are you sure?" Zelos peered at the tatto. "Yup, guess so. Better tell Sheena so she won't freak anymore."

Ena blinked.

The two saviors leapt back with a yelp.

"And you guys expect me to believe that you _saved_ the world?" Zach drawled.

Zelos narrowed his eyes and quickly muttered a spell. He exclaimed, "_Fireball!_"

Zach jumped up with a yell. He ran around the large room, screaming bloody murder since his shirt had caught on fire. Lloyd and Zelos were no help- they were too busy laughing. Suddenly, Zach found himself doused with water. Sopping wet, he turned and found Ena brandishing her scepter with an amused look on her face.

"Ena! You're alright!" Zach didn't notice his lack of a shirt.

"Yeah, but how's Yuna?" she asked, getting out of bed, setting the scepter on the nightstand.

"I don't know. Zelos kept me in isolation all afternoon." Zach offered an arm. "You wanna go find out?"

"I don't suppose you remember what happened?" Lloyd strode on Ena's other side. "Zelos filled me in."

"This is Lloyd, a bud of mine from long, long ago." Zelos clapped an arm around the man's shoulder. Lloyd shoved it off.

Ena's brow creased. "Yuna was showing me a form to begin practicing in. The next thing I knew, my body was doing all these complicated forms and summoned that scepter, too. Then, with a blast of magic, my body sent Yuna flying and I started to hover in a half-consciousness. But that's not all I remember. I remember Yuna as a child, as we played in Phalneyr. I went into the service of Lady Orion at age 10. Then, she sold me for a large sum when I was 11 to a strange man, who took me underground. I don't remember anything after that until you all found me the other day." Ena noticed their puzzled looks and added, "I'm half sprite."

They nodded and stepped into Yuna's room. She was sitting in bed, composing lyrics and music. She heard them enter and grinned at them, "Finally! Visitors!"

"You mean I'm not good company?" Zenos appeared, holding a serving tray with steaming soup.

"I'm not saying _that_!" Yuna smirked evilly. "Though you _do_ get boring after a while."

Zenos gave a mock-wounded face and sauntered off, taking the food with him. "I suppose you don't need this, then."

"Noo! The food! Must have food!" Yuna moaned dramatically.

"Fear not, beautiful Yuna! I, the gallant Zach, shall save your food from my horrid, boring brother!" Zach hummed the Superman theme as he swooped to his brother, cleanly appropriated the soup, and placed it in her lap.

"Ah, thank you, most valiant Zach!" Yuna grinned broadly at him before digging in. "Ena, please come here."

Ena, who had been trying to hover out of sight, timidly sat on the bed. Yuna paused in her eating and clasped her friend's hands warmly. "Don't worry, okay? It wasn't your fault."

Ena smiled. After a moment, she smiled warmly. "Wasn't it so much fun to steal Ryu's action figures and dress them up in those frilly pink dresses?"

Yuna's eyes widened. "You remember!"

"And our promise to see each other again someday." Ena added.

Yuna hugged her friend tightly. "I knew you'd come back to me, Ena-lee."

Ena laughed. "I can't believe you remember that, Yuna-lee."

The four guys left the room to leave the two girls conversing as Yuna ate.

"How nice." Zelos commented lazily.

_And there it is! Please read and review! Constructive criticism is appreciated._

_Ethereal Thoughts_


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, everyone! Sorry for the wait, once again. Yes, I am unmotivated sometimes- I'll admit I kinda had a writer's block on this chapter. But I think it'll get rolling again pretty soon.**

**So, now I present to you, chapter nine!**

**Once again, I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, you would be able to play Yuan and get hot costumes for him. Hehe.**

CHAPTER NINE

Ena glared at the chess board. She was playing a game against Zenos, the resident champion of the house.

After a few more minutes, she finally made a move with a content smirk. Zenos countered immediately. With a smug smile, he proclaimed, "Checkmate."

Ena groaned. "Zenos, you're really quite irritating sometimes."

Zenos laughed as he set the pieces back up. "Wanna play again?"

"No, not particularly." Ena dryly said. She finished putting the pieces back in place and got up, stretching. "I think I'm going to find more enjoyable company."

Zenos placed a hand over his heart, a look of mock hurt planted on his face. "Did you hear that? I think my heart just broke! You and Yuna are so cruel to me!"

Ena laughed and patted him on the back before leaving the room.

Zenos was left to his own thoughts for a few moments before Zelos burst in. "I've decided, Lloyd! Lloyd? Zenos, where'd my bud go?"

Zenos shrugged.

"You _lost_ him!" Zelos moaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Go find him! Now!" Zelos hauled Zenos up out of his chair and pushed him into the hall, straight into Yuna.

They fell to the floor with a large crash.

"No! The family Urn! It broke!" Zelos wailed, "First Aid! First Aid!"

Zenos got off of Yuna's stomach and offered a hand. "Sorry about that. Dang Zelos. Are you alright?"

Yuna accepted his hand and nodded, still dazed. "Um, yeah."

"What where you doing, anyways?" Zenos picked a piece of the urn out of her hair and gave it to Zelos, who was still trying to mend it with First Aid.

"Looking for Ena." Yuna answered, running a hand through her hair to make sure it didn't have anymore foreign objects in it.

"Try the courtyard." Zenos suggested. "I think that's where she headed to after our game."

"Zenos! Find Lloyd! Now!" Zelos barked, now holding a complete urn.

Zenos looked at the urn and asked, baffled, "How'd you fix it?"

"Me to know, you to find out. Now go find out where Lloyd is!" Zelos gingerly put the urn back.

"Lloyd's upstairs, talking to Lucas and trying to teach him a thing or two." Yuna supplied.

Zelos dashed off, bellowing, "Lloyd! Lloyd! I've got it!"

"It's official. Zelos has gone senile." Zenos placed a hand on his forehead.

Yuna laughed. "Well I'm gonna go find Ena."

"Okay. " Zenos nodded.

Yuna walked away from him.

Zenos frowned slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that _something_ had happened between them the night of the party. But what? He couldn't remember. And if Yuna did, she wasn't saying anything. ...Argh, damn hangovers!

"Yuuuuu-nnnnaaaa! Rooooo-eeeeeeelllllllllleeeee! Miiirr-aaaaalllllllllleee!" Zelos stomped by the living room again, Lloyd and Lucas in tow.

"Yuna just went to the courtyard!" Zenos yelled after Zelos.

He received a slammed door in response. Humph. Nice guy, that Zelos.

Zenos fell into his chair by the chess set with a frustrated groan. Zelos was up to something, but what? Zenos had a bad feeling. Whenever Zelos cooked up something, it didn't end well. Zenos had a vivid memory of Zelos' catastrophic attempt to arrange a date between Zenos and a blind date that literally ended in flames- the candlelit dinner had become an enranged inferno. He shuddered.

At that moment, Zach fell into the living room and the door was slammed behind him.

"Hey! What'd I do?" Zach yelled indignantly at the door.

Zenos glanced at his brother. "What happened?"

"I was talking with Yuna and Ena for five seconds, literally, before Zelos came out there, dragged me in here, and went back out there!" Zach picked himself up, scowling at the door.

"Zelos is up to something." Zenos grimly said.

"Tell me about it." Zach shuddered as well. He recalled when Zelos had tried to throw a surprise birthday party for him and the cake turned out to be uncooked, with a mystery as to the ingredients. Zach had been sick for a week since he had sampled the first slice of cake. "This cannot end well."

Zenos nodded his agreement, then ventured, "How about a game until Zelos breaks the news?"

"Sure, but _I_ wanna pick." Zach went to their collection of cards and board games. The video games had been ruled as off-limits for the brothers ever since a certain incident that involved yelling and accidentally shoving Zelos into a nearby burning candle.

"Poker!" Zach proclaimed.

Zenos groaned. "Might as well."

Fifteen minutes later, the other descendants, Ena, Lloyd, and Zelos entered the living room. There was a sudden crowding in the door as the first four people- Yuna, Lucas, Miralle, and Roelle- stopped in their tracks.

Zenos and Zach were red in their faces, yelling obscenities at each other over the table that held their poker game. Somehow both of them had gotten royal flushes with different suits and were disputing who had won.

Zelos, being a tall man, saw this and easily resolved the matter. He hurled two pillows at their heads, complete with painful, sharp buttons. "What did I tell you two about playing poker?"

"It was Zach's fault!" Zenos glared at his brother, who glared back.

Yuna burst into laughter, as well as the twins, Robyn, and Nari. "This is all so familiar." they chorused.

The brothers, still somewhat red, put the cards away. The large group settled into the room, everyone taking their usual seats.

"Well, now that everyone's here, I have some sad news." Zelos chirped cheerfully.

"If it's so sad, why are you so chipper?" Andrew grumbled.

"We have four friends who are, unfortunately, leaving us. They have been specially selected to go with Lloyd to check up on the Yggdrasill Tree." Zelos explained. "Say bye bye to Miralle, Roelle, Lucas, and Yuna. They're leaving, but they'll be back in about a week."

"What, they're leaving _now_?" Zach questioned.

"We've got to. Yggdrasill is suddenly losing a large amount of mana." Lloyd frowned. "We're hoping they'll be able to give us some clue as to why."

"Wow, Lloyd, you sounded intelligent." Zelos drawled.

As Lloyd slugged Zelos, the group said their farewells.

"Zenos, Zach, Nari, Drew, Antony. I hope you guys come up with a name and some new music by the time I get back.." Yuna teased her band mates.

"I'll make sure of it!" Nari grinned, giving her a hug. "Be careful."

"Stay on guard." Andrew nodded, resigned to being called Drew.

"Stay safe." Antony grunted.

Zach grinned. "Kick the monster's butt!"

Zenos clapped her on the back. "Come back to us in one piece."

Yuna grinned at them and turned to Gale and Ena.

"Please, be careful." Ena hugged her friend tightly.

"Of course, Ena-lee." Yuna assured her.

Gale embraced her as well. "Everyone else has already said everything. So, see ya in a week! Don't go running off with Lucas or Lloyd!"

Gale suddenly found his upper arm aching. He rubbed it ruefully. "You didn't have to hit me _that_ hard."

Yuna also bid goodbye to Robyn, Rory, and Caleb. Naleen and Hallo were nowhere to be found, so the five venturers asked that the people remaining tell the two goodbye for them. Then, the fivesome trooped upstairs, pausing long enough to get their weapons and some supplies. The rest of the guests and the Wylders joined them when they went to the roof and took a rheaird apiece. With a final wave goodbye, the four descendants and the Eternal Swordsman headed east.

The guests and the Wylders watched the five until they could see them no longer. After a few moments of silence, Zelos announced, "Well, I'm going to be in my office. Don't disturb me unless it's _extremely_ important."

Several days after the departure of Lloyd, Lucas, Miralle, Roelle, and Yuna, Zelos was wandering around the house in the dead of the night, unable to enter his sleep-like trance that substituted for actual rest. He decided to go to his office and read some more reports- they were certainly boring enough to put anyone to sleep. With a resigned breath, he left the kitchen and went upstairs, light silk robe flowing behind him and his sweatpants rustling loudly in the stilled silence.

As soon as he stepped into the darkened room, he registered that the window was open and a figure stood in a corner, hidden by darkness. His muscles rippled on his chest, obvious in the moonlight that fell on him, as he tensed, prepared to defend himself. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"Jeez, Zelos, calm down." A familiar female voice scoffed. "It's just me." She stepped out of the shadows.

Zelos knew those curves and that sultry voice. "Sheena? What in the name of Kharlan are you doing here?"

"I think I have some information about Yggdrasill. My sources told me that Lloyd left here a few days ago, along with Lucas, Miralle, Roelle, and Yuna. However, they don't know where to. So that's why I'm here in the middle of the night." Sheena explained, sitting on his desk.

Zelos folded his arms across his chest. "In that case, Lloyd went to the Tree."

Sheena nodded, hopping off of the desk nimbly. "I thought so." She turned back to the window and made as if to leave.

In a fluid movement, Zelos had crossed the room and gently grasped her hand. "Sheena, do you _really_ have to go right _now_?"

Sheena didn't answer for a moment, then softly replied, "I should. Lloyd needs to know, now."

Zelos noticed the way the moonlight made her look even more haggard. "Sheena, you need to sleep. Have you gotten any sleep at all?"

Sheena gave a huff, not answering his question.

Zelos lightly held her chin and turned ti to him. "Sheena, even after all this time... Are you still afraid? Of what could be? Of us?"

Sheena defiantly met his eyes and retorted, "I suppose you could say that. But, I _know_ where my feeling stand. I know who I thought about constantly these past 1500 years. I _know_ who I wondered was still alive as I kept breathing. I _know _who I forgave for doing what he had to do in order to help us reunite the worlds. Tell me, Zelos, can you say the same? Can you say that there was only _one_ person on your mind, even as you did your duty to pass on your blood?"

Zelos gazed at her, entrancing in the moonlight's silvery beams. "Then what is there to be afraid of?"

"Rejection. Not being the only one. Uncertainty of the future." Sheena dropped her gaze.

"Sheena." Zelos whispered, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

She didn't respond.

"Sheena... look at me. _Please_."

She turned her tawny brown eyes into his sky blue gaze, their eyes glowing from the moonbeams. He drowned in her gaze for a few moments, then leaned in to her and lightly brushed her lips with his. She kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her to him, tightly, and deepened the kiss, putting all of his passion and love into it.

When he finally pulled back, she kept her eyes closed, trembling slightly as she licked her lips. He whispered into her ear, "Does _that_ tell you anything about _my_ past 1500 years? Does it tell you not to be afraid?"

Sheena laid her head on his bare chest. "Yes. To both of them."

"Then spend the night. Rest. You need it." Zelos grasped her hand and led her out of the office.

"Zelos."

He stopped and looked at her, puzzled.

"I don't know that I want to rest. Not tonight." Sheena smiled up at him as she squeezed his hand.

Zelos stared at her, stunned. Sheena had definitely come a long way from the shy, hot-headed girl he had fallen for all those years ago. She was now a strong, confident woman who knew her strenths and herself. She also knew how to use what she had to get what she wanted. Zelos turned to her, holding both of her small hands in his. "Are you _sure_?"

"Positive."

"Then, in that case, I've got a place for you to stay in my bedroom." Zelos gently smiled. He walked beside her as he led her to his room, which was on the other end of the mansion, away from all the slumbering descendants.

The next morning, Andrew blinked as he ate a piece of bacon. Sheena had just stumbled into the kitchen, wearing a borrowed pair of Zelos' breeches and a shirt. "Sheena! What the hell are _you_ doing _here_?"

Sheena yawned as Zelos came up behind her. "I came to see where Lloyd went and ended up staying the night. Zelos convinced me to get some sleep."

Andrew eyed her suspiciously. "You don't look like you got much."

"That's because she only got to sleep a couple of hours ago." Zelos waved it off. "That's what she gets for showing up in the wee hours of the morning."

"And what were _you_ doing up?" Andrew turned the interrogation onto Zelos, viciously biting his bacon.

"Couldn't sleep. Had a lot on my mind." Zelos replied, pouring some coffee for him and Sheena.

Andrew opened his mouth, but Nari quickly shoved some toast into it. "Shut up, Drew."

A collective chuckle went around the table as breakfast was devoured.

A little while later, there was a flash of sky blue outside the window, in the courtyard. Zelso stood up with a start and commanded, "Stay here!" With that, he ran outside to the courtyard.

"What damage does he expect to do without his sword?" commented Nari.

"Don't forget, he's an angel. And he ingested aionis back when we all traveled together," Sheena pointed out, "so he can use magic."

"What about you?" Rory asked. "Aren't you an angel? I mean, you've lived all this time, as well, without aging or losing your body's strength.

Sheena shook her head. "Exspheres are tricky things. There's no telling what side effects they'll give you. As far as I know, I'm not an angel."

Something crashed in the hall and the group heard Zelos snap, "Lloyd, can't you do something about your damn wings!"

The door clattered open and Zelos carried Lloyd into the kitchen. Lloyd was bloodied and completely beat, his clothes in tatters. His large wings were missing several feathers and dragged on the ground, leaking an excessive amount of magical dust from the various wounds in them. Everyone helped to clear the table off and Zelos gently placed Lloyd on it. Sheena sat by Lloyd, holding his hand as Zelos healed him.

"Lloyd, can you hear me? What happened?" Sheena softly asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Lloyd cracked one rusty brown eye open as he winced. "We got to... Yggdrasill... stayed for a couple of days... Started to pack up... yesterday. Got ambushed... by a troop of... angels and undead... They took the... kids northwest and left me. Didn't know who I was... Can you believe that?" Lloyd gave a weak chuckle.

"No, really?" Sheena gave him a dry smile. "Do you know where they took the kids?"

"No. I thought maybe you could... follow them by sensing their summon spirits." Lloyd was now able to open both eyes all the way but winced when he sat up. "Or use Mizuho's information network."

"I don't know that _I_ can sense their summon spirits." Sheena shook her head. "And northwest isn't necessarily a big help."

"We'll talk more after you've rested." Zelos firmly said. "And put yourfrickin' wings away, they're wrecking everything."

Lloyd blinked, glancing over his shoulder. His wings gave a feeble flap. "Oh. Whoops. Sorry." He put them away and Zelos picked him up, draping one arm across his shoulder. "Zenos, Zach, go find that old guestroom on the second floor by my room and get it ready- it's Naleen's day off."

Zenos and Zach readily got up and went to go prepare the room. Sheena followed Zelos and Lloyd and supported Lloyd's other arm.

Gale frowned. "Yuna's been kidnapped. And Miralle, Lucas, and Roelle, too. But why?"

"That's what we'd all like to know." Ena's voice was uncommonly serious.

A few hours later, Lloyd was ravenously eating, Sheena was preparing to leave, and the descendants and Ena were trying to figure out the connection between the four kidnapped people in the dining room.

Zenos had a piece of paper out with the four names on it. The names were boxed in, with by an arrow pointing to their summon spirit, followed by Yuna's ancestor and Lucas' two ancestors. Zenos and Caleb were looking at it intently as the other young adults squabbled or observed.

"Well, we know that Yuna's Spirit is Plants, Lucas' is the King, and the twins' is Light. Yuna's ancestor is Yuan and Lucas is descendant to Lloyd and Kratos." Zenos mumbled. "See anything?"

"It would really help if we knew who the twins' ancestor is." Caleb frowned. "Because I see nothing."

Zenos groaned, ruffling his hair in frustration.

Zelos and Lloyd reappeared, Lloyd still sampling a sandwich.

"Shena's gone back to Mizuho." Zelos informed the group.

"We're gonna go to Yggdrasill and see if we can get any clues." Lloyd added, finishing his sandwich.

"Then I'm gonna go with you." declared Gale.

"No." Lloyd and Zelos replied firmly.

"What? Why?" Gale exclaimed, upset.

"This is a dangerous situation. We cannot let wet-behind-the-ears kids jepoardize the safety of our missing people." Zelos stated seriously.

After a few moments of silence, Caleb mentioned, "Wasn't it you guys who were saying that your time was up and that it was our turn to guard the world?"

"Um..." Lloyd turned to Zelos, who blinked in response.

"In that case, wouldn't it make sense to have us come along to observe and provide backup in order to gain experience?" Caleb added.

"Errr..." the two angels stammered.

"Pretty valid reasoning, wouldn't you say?" Antony grunted.

The descendants grinned widely as the two Heroes went into a whispered debate.

"Okay. You can come. Be back down here in five minutes." Zelos commanded. "And you'd better-"

The room was empty.

Zelos snorted. "Kids."

Lloyd laughed and stole Robyn's bag of chips.

"...-e quiet. I think she's coming to."

Yuna groggily opened an eye. "Ugh... my head... What's going on?" She sat up, holding her head in her hand. "Where am I?"

"Yuna, don't you remember?" Miralle asked across the darkened room.

Yuna blinked, concentrating momentarily. The memories came back in a rush. "Oh! We were attacked and I was knocked out by an angel with black wings." She glanced around. "Wait, then, where's Lloyd?"

Lucas shook his head. "Not here."

"Speaking of which, where is 'here?'" Roelle looked around.

The four teens were in a small cell made of stone. It was darkened, with the only source of light coming from the door, where there was a small window with bars blocking it. There was no water, windows, or even straw for a bed.

"I'd guess a cell, obviously. But we just don't know why." Lucas stood. He went to the door and glanced out the window the best he could. "Well, we're definitely in a dungeon, at any rate."

"Well, is there any way to escape?" Miralle questioned.

"Well, our weapons are gone." Roelle pointed out.

"And we've got a couple of guards." Lucas added. "Looks like some more of those angels from earlier."

Following a few moments of silence, Lucas chuckled. "We're not _helpless_, guys."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Miralle looked at her increduously.

Yuna gave a broad grin. "We've always got our Summon Spirits."

Lucas nodded, grinning back at her. "So, there's our mode of escape. But does anyone else think that we should wait and find out what exactly we've been dragged into?"

"I suppose so." Roelle agreed.

"Then we can tell Lloyd and Zelos what's going on." Miralle gave a small smile.

"Until then, I wonder if Wreathe can bring us fruits and veggies so we won't starve?" Yuna wondered.

"Why don't you go ahead and try? I'll stand guard." Lucas peered out of the barred window again.

"Okay, I'll give it a shot." Yuna stood and closed her eyes. She placed her hands in front of her, her left palm planted on the back of her right hand. A jade green magic circle appeared around her, the magic's flow causing her hair and dress to jek around. After a few moments of concentration, her tattoo began to glow and she intoned, "I call upon the Herald of Eternal Sping. I summon thee! Come, Wreathe!" Yuna drew her arms out horizontally, the raised her right hand up and dropped her left hand to her side.

With a flash of jade, Wreathe appeared. "How may I help you, daughter of three?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Yuna frowned, then shook her head. "Never mind. Anyways, we were wondering if maybe you could give us some fruits and vegetables to eat while we're trapped here."

"Certainly." Wreathe disappeared, leaving a small pile of apples, grapes, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots sitting on top of some straw.

"Well, it's food and it's clean." Miralle grinned, selecting an apple. "Thanks, Wreathe, Yuna."

Yuna grinned at her in response before picking out some grapes. "Thanks for watching, Lucas."

"Sure." Lucas sat down. "Tomatoes? Yech."

"You don't like tomatoes?" Miralle teased.

"Not at all." Lucas shuddered, then bit into an apple.

Roelle sighed, then picked up a tomato. "I'll try and eat them. I don't think we should leave any idea to our captors that we have a way to get food."

"Good point." Yuna nodded.

Miralle plopped back against the wall, still eating her apple, and it made a hollow sound.

The four of them glanced at it. Miralle tapped it again as Lucas made his way over. Swiftly, they were able to pry a loose tile out of the wall, revealing a fake stone that had been colored the same as the ones around it. There was a large empty space behind it.

"Problem solved." Roelle grinned triumphantly.

"I hear footsteps." Yuna stood to peer out the barred window. "Hurry, put it up! There's someone coming!"

The three hastily put the food into their newfound hiding space and slid the fake back into place. The straw was swiftly swept under the cape that Yuna had been wearing.

They all took up places against the back wall just in time to hear the lock disengage.

"Stand up and come with me." commanded a haughty voice. "Lord Pryor will see you now."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, everyone. I'm SOOOO sorry for the long wait! Please forgive me! I had a really bad writer's block and couldn't decide how to end this chapter, plus my ever chaotic life... --;. **

**Anyways, I don't own ToS and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

CHAPTER 10

"Lord Pryor will see you now."

Yuna gave a sharp intake of breath. "Pryor? Isn't he the guy that Yuan warned me about?"

The four prisoners found themselves roughly grabbed by angels with blank red eyes, black attire, and feathery black wings.

They were led up a damp, narrow, stone corridor, going through several more before reaching a long, curving staircase. The stairs opened into a large space, much like an entryway in a castle. Once again, they moved up a flight of stairs, then down another stone corridor, wide and warm, with tapestries of silk adorning the walls.

Finally, they reached their destination. A man was sitting in a large room with puffy, comfortable chairs, a fireplace, and various scientific instruments. Savior Stones of all colors glowed quietly on the wall. Miralle gave them a small look of pain. There was something strange about these stones. They seemed to give off the ache of loneliness... but, that wasn't possible, was it? Miralle shook her head and focused on the present.

"Lord Pryor, here are the guests." the lead angel, with an abnormally large, curved nose, informed the lone man.

"Ah, thank you, Captain Breakfield. You're all dismissed." the man, Lord Pryor, looked up. A pair of goggled and a helmet covered his face and a heavy leather apron and gloves were also on his person.

The angels gave a salute and left, silently gliding out.

There was no sound in the room, save for the bubbling of various heating liquids.

"So." Lord Pryor began to take off his goggles and helmet. "I have before me the descendants of the Four Seraphim."

The four glanced at each other. The twins exchanged fleeting worried glances.

"I think you're mistaken, sir." Lucas protested. "Only me and Yuna are descendants of two of the Four Seraphim. Miralle and Roelle are twins, so they could only account for a third Seraphim."

"Really?" Pryor smoothed his stark white hair and opened blood red eyes that pierced the descendants with their glare. He was a reasonably tall man with well defined features. "What if I were to tell you that, while they are descended from a third Seraphim, the third and fourth Seraphim were blood siblings? Using that as logic, you could say that they are descendants of both of them."

The four gave each other a glance that said, "How does that work?"

"Either way, how could you know who we're descended from? We're orphans." Roelle pointed out.

"I took a blood sample when you all arrived here. Anyways, at the present time, am I correct in assuming that none of you have TEBOs or Savior Stones?" Pryor asked, examining his large collection of savior stones.

"Yes, but why?" Miralle replied, a baffled tone evident in her words.

"I will be putting one on each of you. Don't worry, they are for your benefit only. However, if you aren't compatible with any of the ones I have here, then you shall have to go to a different location to make sure it is properly equipped. We shall have to wait and see what happens." Pryor casually added, "And how about your Summon Spirits? Which ones do you have?"

Lucas immediately denied the statement. "We don't have any summon spirits."

"They're pure myth. How could we have something that doesn't exist in modern times?" Roelle crossed his arms across his chest.

Pryor was strangely silent, then quietly breathed, "Don't lie to me." Then he exploded, "DON'T LIE TO ME!"

The teens were flung backwards as he shot some orbs of darkness from his outstretched hands, blood red eyes alight with anger. "I am a half elf! I know when I sense mana! I sensed the presence of a Summon Spirit earlier! So _do not _mock me!"

"Okay, we apologize. You caught our hands in the cookie jar." Yuna admitted soothingly. "That was me earlier, summoning Wreathe. Shr brought food for us since we didn't know when our next meal would be."

"Wreathe? I've never heard of her. I must investigate further." Pryor thoughtfully muttered. Suddenly, he became cheery and laughed, "Oh, you don't have to worry about starving here, honey. You all are to be treated as the guests of royalty and receive the best treatment possible!"

"Then why were we in that dingy cell with no light whatsoever?" Roelle questioned.

"What? You were in the dungeons?" Pryor seemed genuinely shocked. He scowled, "My people must have screwed up their orders. No mind, I shall discipline them later. For now, I shall show you to your rooms. Please, follow me."

Pryor led them out of the experimentation room and showed them to their lush, rich rooms.

"I hope the clothing and entertainment are to your liking. However, I would like to ask that you go nowhere without an escort. This is for security purposes- never know who's prowling around this place. You may, of course, visit amongst each other. Dinner will be at seven o'clock. I shall see you all then." WIth that, Pryor strode off, leaving four servants in his place.

The servants were serene looking angels, with white feathery wings, soft hair of various colors, and simple blue and white outfits. The thing that stood out the most were their eyes- their eyes were all a hollow blue. Yuna gave a small shudder.

A male servant with red hair approached Yuna and bowed. "Good evening, mistress, I am to be your servant for the duration of your stay. I am known as Raphael."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Raphael. My name is Yuna." Yuna answered.

"Let us examine your room." Raphael opened her door for her.

Yuna nodded and went in, saying quietly to the other teens, "Stay on your guard."

Yuna gazed at her room, impressed in spite of herself. The room was large, with a king-size canopy bed, decorated in the colors of blue and silver. A large mirror stood off to the side, beside a large closet and a silver dresser. There was a large balcony as well that had fallen into disrepair, so she couldn't go out on it. On the wall opposite the mirror and dresser, a stereo rested, along with a television and video game console.

She fell onto the bed and hugged a pillow to her. "You're dismissed, Raphael. I'm going to take a nap."

"As you wish, Mistress Yuna." Raphael glided out and quietly shut the door.

Yuna felt a sinking feeling as she squeezed the pillow tightly. How did this happen to her, Lucas, and the twins? Why did it happen? She missed Gale, Ena, and the others so much.

And... Zenos...

She could count on him to come and find her, she knew... but... she needed his strong presence now.

Yuna began to cry into her pillow softly, heart longing.

Zenos felt his heart give a small wrench.

Yuna.

He puzzled momentarily. How did he know it was Yuna?

"...So, what you're saying is that we can find them by tracking their mana signature?" Caleb quizzed Andrew.

"Yeah." Andrew gave Caleb a small square box with several buttons and a circular scren. "Sheena gave these to me. She said that, while we don't know their personal signature, they will have enough of their Summon Spirits' mana infused within their signature for us to track them down."

"That's great. Now, who's going after who?" Zach interjected.

"Sheena suggested that we put opposites after the other. Opposites attract and the compatible will feel stronger or something like that." Andrew shrugged. He added, "She said that putting Caleb after one of the twins since he's got Shadow should work. Ena will go after the other twin since she's got Verius, who will sense their hearts. Zach should look for Lucas and Gale will go after Yuna."

The group nodded and split up into their search parties. Caleb offered to go after Miralle and Rory and Robyn joined him. Ena and Andrew were left to go after Roelle. Nari and Zach were going to search for Lucas, leaving Zenos, Gale, and Antony with Yuna.

Zelos waved at the groups as they set off on their rheairds."Good luck to all of you! Come back in one piece and with my other two hunnies and the two guys!"

The four groups waved back and set off.

Yuna glanced up from her paper upon hearing someone knock at the door. Raphael opened it and Lucas stepped in, his winged servant waiting outside the door.

"Could I speak to you privately?" Lucas inquired.

"Certainly. Raphael, would you please wait outside?" Yuna requested as she put aside her pen and paper and stood up.

"Of course, Mistress Yuna." Raphael went out and closed the door behind him.

"Have you heard yet?" Lucas asked, crossing his arms.

"I guess not. What is it?" Yuna leaned against her table.

"I'm being sent away."

"What?" Yuna stiffened.

"The twins are, too." Lucas added, sitting in a chair backwards as he faced Yuna.

She shook her head. "This is the first I've heard of it. I suppose that means that I'm staying here."

Lucas sighed and furrowed his brow. "This is such a weird situation. Pryor is very hospitable, but we can't afford to forget that he's holding us hostage for some reason."

Yuna nodded. "It's far too easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and we should also probably remember that our servants, even if they are soulless, are probably fully capable of reporting to Pryor on us."

"Plus, we can't escape anyways- not since Pryor put up those wards three days ago to suppress our Summon Spirits." Lucas grumbled, looking at his sword tattoo on his right index finger with a slight pout.

The door was knocked on again and Raphael opened it with the announcement of, "Miss Miralle and Master Roelle to see you, Mistress Yuna."

"Okay, thank you, Raphael. Please shut the door behind you." Yuna replied as the twins walked in.

The door was shut again and Miralle promptly threw herself on the bed, complaining, "I can't believe we've been stuck here for five days already!"

"And now he's splitting us up." Roelle added glumly, seating himself into a chair backwards as well.

"It's gotta be the Savior Stones. Why does he want them on us so badly?" Miralle asked the two older teens.

"Ya got me." Lucas shrugged.

"I suppose that all we can do is wait for the moment." Yuna sighed.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough." Miralle chirped.

"Mistress Yuna." Raphael opened the door. "Lord Pryor is here to see you."

The four turned to see Pryor, leaning against the frame of the door. He gave an apologetic face. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's time for Lucas, Miralle, and Roelle to leave."

"Didn't think we'd find out this soon, huh, sis?" Roelle gave his sister a glare. She chuckled sheepishly in return.

"Please, bid goodbye to Yuna- you will all be reunited soon enough. I give you my word." Pryor instructed, "Then gather your things and your servants will show you to the place of departure."

The three nodded and turned to Yuna, giving her a hug.

"We'll see each other before you know it!" Miralle and Roelle grinned. "Count on it!"

Lucas gave her a smile. "Be strong, Yuna."

Yuna gave them all a peck on the cheek. As they left the room, looking back at her, she gave them a brilliant smile.

Long after they had left the room and Raphael had taken up his post by the door again, Yuna returned to her bed, where she drew her knees to her chin and rested her head on them. She gave a slight shudder.

"Are you cold, Mistress Yuna? Would you like for me to make a fire?" Raphael asked, blank blue eyes scanning her.

"No. I'm fine, Raphael, thank you." Yuna replied, turning to her own thoughts. Her worst fear had happened. She was isolated from her friends. She was alone in the world now.

"I'm tellin' ya, I feel somethin' pullin at me in _this_ direction!" Zach glared at Nari as he jabbed a finger in the direction of Luin.

"And _I'm_ tellin _you_, the mana sensor says _that_ way!" Nari motioned the said object wildly in the direction of Hima.

"And _who's_ the sensor set on?" Zach's face was beginning to turn as red as his hair.

Nari glared at the screen, then tapped it. It beeped rapidly, then an arrow on the screen pointed towards Luin.

"Oh."

Zach gave a triumphant grin and climbed on his rheaird again. "We've been looking for _four_ days and they've been gone a _week_. I hope they're all alright."

"No, they're all dead. Of _course_ they're okay, you idiot!" Nari rolled her eyes as she got on her rheaird and they set off again.

After a few hours and more arguments about random things, the two came across the town of Asgard.

" I vote to stop here and get something to eat. I'm famished." Nari suggested.

"I second that motion." Zach began to talk to his grumbling belly. "Just a little while longer, don't worry."

Nari gave him a horrified look as they touched down onto the ground. "You're psycho!"

"Well, I'm also the one paying for lunch!" he snapped in return.

As the two walked towards the town, Zach felt like he had suddenly been hit by a wave of power. "I sense something really strong here."

Nari checked the mana sensor. "Yeah, looks like Lucas is really close. If he's that little dot, then we're almost right on top of him."

Zach nodded. "We'll keep an eye out. Now, let's go get some grub."

The two walked around and eventually found a restaurant called "Cafe Cloud."

They seated themselves in a booth and Zach fidgeted. "We've got to be on top of him right now! I'm buzzing!"

Nari gave him a strange look, then laughed, "You are buzzing!"

His body was vibrating slightly. Zach glared at her.

"May I take your order?" a waiter came up to their table.

He glided away after taking their order and returned with their drinks. As he left the table the second time, Zach watched him float away and nearly choked on his drink.

"Did you see that?!" Zach demanded, "He's floating!"

Nari glanced at the other waiters and waitresses. "They all are. What's up with this place?"

"This will requires some investigation." Zach nodded sagely. "After lunch, of course."

"Is your stupid stomach all you can think about right now?!" Nari hissed. "What about Lucas?"

"Lucas can't expect us to save him if we are weak from malnutrition." Zach said sensibly.

Nari fell silent, then sighed and admitted, "I suppose I can see where you're coming from."

"Besides, we can ask our waiter, Rellin, who owns the place and such." Zach settled back and sipped his drink.

When Rellin returned with their food, he asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Actually, we were wondering who owned the place- this food rocks!" Nari said after a bite of her burger. She took another enthusiastic bite.

"Ah, I could bring him to you, if you wish. He would be pleased to hear about how you approve of this facility." Rellin offered.

"Sure, man, please bring him to us!" Zach nodded, eating with relish.

Rellin returned within a few moments, bringing with him a young man with orange hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, there. I'm Victor, founder of Cafe Cloud. What can I do for you folks?" he gave them an easy grin.

"This is a top notch restaurant." Zach stated his approval.

"We were kind wondering about Rellin, though. How does he float like that?" Nari asked, obvious impressed.

"Ah, all of the waiters and waitresses here are halflings that have special TEBOs equipped on them to grant them the ability to levitate. It works wonders- I haven't had any broken dishes or food spills ever since they kicked in!" Victor gave a guffaw.

"Wow! That's really cool!" Nari exclaimed. "I also noticed on the sign out front that you have an arcade and a family room. Might we be able to look at those?"

"Honey, if you want a tour of the place, you and your brother are welcome to it!" Victor grinned.

Nari and Zach nearly dropped their act in shock. They glanced at each other and gamely nodded, strained grins on both their faces. "Sure, my brother and I would really appreciate that."

"Then, have Rellin bring y'all to me once you're finished here and I'll give you a tour!" Victor walked off.

Zach and Nari glared at each other. "I didn't think that both of us having red hair would immediately brand us as brother and sister." Zach commented.

"Hey, that's better than being branded as boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Nari shot back.

"You have a point." Zach blanched.

The two finished their meal, had some dessert, then followed Rellin to Victor's office.

"Mr. Steele? Your tour is here." Rellin announced.

"Thanks, Rellin. You're free to go." Victor appeared at the door.

As Rellin glided away, Victor offered an arm to Nari. "Are we ready for the tour?"

"Of course, Victor. My name is Nari, by the way." Nari gave a seductive smile to him.

"And I'm Zach."

"Wonderful, wonderful. Now, let's begin!" Victor steered them towards the kitchen.

"Well, that afternoon was kinda wasted." Zach grumbled as they were finally released from Victor's clutches.

"Not really. We know Lucas is in there. I'll bet there's a back door in that we can use." Nari smirked.

"Then, let's break in tonight and look for secret passages or whatnot." Zach rubbed his hands together with a cackle.

"Sure. For now, let's get a room." Nari dragged him off towards a hotel.

**Weellllllllllll, how was it? Please review and hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon! Don't hold me to it, though. XD**

**Later!**

**Ethereal Thoughts**


	11. Chapter 11

_Okay, I realize I took a while to update... again.I apologize. I've been busy (so what else is new?) and I had a reallllyyyyy bad writer's block. ;-; I hate those things. _

_Anyways, the thing with this chapter is that, if it seems to you like it ended suddenly, that's because this is only about half of the original chapter. My little sister, SylphWindDancer was getting on my nerves and convinced me to go ahead and update. So, don't worry, with any luck chapter 12 will be out relatively soon._

_**Disclaimer:** If I owned ToS, do you seriously think I'd be having trouble putting out fanfiction chapters?_

**CHAPTER 11**

Nari and Zach had dressed themselves in solid black outfits for the moonless night. They hid in the shadows as they examined the back door they had discovered earlier that day. Zach peered at the lock, then cautiously prodded it. When nothing happened, he smirked at Nari. "Leave this to me."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Nari muttered as she watched him fiddle with the lock. When it gave way to his fingers and he pushed the door open, she cocked an eyebrow. With a questioning look, Nari asked,"How is it that a noble teenage boy like you knows how to pick locks?"

"Because, my dear," Zach stood with the same smirk, "I live a secret double life in which I steal from my fellow nobles and distribute the wealth to the deprived of the city."

Nari rolled her eyes as they walked into what appeared to be the basement of the building. They glanced around at all of the machinery and rooms. Zach gave a small whistle. "This sure wasn't part of the tour earlier."

"C'mon, let's get to the sneaking around portion of our ill devised plan and get Lucas outta here." Nari gave him a slight push. "Lead the way."

Zach took a moment to sense Lucas' mana and stealthily took off, making sure that he made no noise. As they went down the long hallways, they made sure to stay to the shadows and peer around the corners carefully. After they had gone into the building a good ways, Zach's grey eyes peeked around a corner and he motioned to Nari, "2 guards- follow my lead."

Zach reached for his belth and withdrew a cylinder with a spearhead on it. He pressed a button with his thumb and it extended into a tall spear. Nari carefully placed her whip in her hands. When he was certain they were ready, Zach straightened and pressed himself against the wall. He inhaled deeply, then stepped out and walked towards the two guards that were dressed exactly like Nari and him.

"Hey there. We're here to relieve you." Zach cheerfully said.

"Really? Bit early, aren't you?" the male guard gruffly replied.

"That's 'cause we're rarin' to go!" Zach energetically pumped his arms. Nari had to restrain the urge to roll her eyes, but grinned anyways.

The two guards chuckled. "New recruits, eh?"

The female guard kindly said, "Well, next time to remember to come at the designated time. Cardinal Veele expects everyone to be prompt to reduce the possibility of infiltration."

"Alright, thanks!" Zach grinned as the two guards left and Nari and Zach took their posts.

Once the two were out of earshot, Zach smirked yet again. "Easy as pie."

"You know, that smirk is really starting to get on my nerves." Nari scowled. "And besides, how is being prompt supposed to 'reduce the possibility of infiltration!?' It just makes it easier!"

Zach turned to the door with a chuckle and prodded the lock again. " Man, their security is lax if they use the same kinda locks on all of their doors."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait." Nari listened intently. "Do you hear that?"

"Wha- oh, crap, they've found us out already!" Zach paled at the sound of the running feet and returned his attention to the door. "Lemme know when they get here."

"Try now." Nari cracked her whip against the floor.

"There's the lyin' infiltrators!" the guardsman from before snarled.

"Get 'em!" the guardswoman howled to her comrades.

Zach rushed to meet the four enemy guards with a cry of, "_Air Cutlass_!"

He swung his spear in a circle, then thrust in the center of it, creating a blast of green energy that traveled at high speed to the foursome. The two guards in the center of the four were thrown against the wall. The two on the outside managed to evade and charged in to attack Zach, swords raised and war cries ripping from their throats. The two swung down in concert at Zach, who stopped them with his spearhaft. As the two tried to splinter the seemingly wooden shaft through brute force, Zach jumped up and kicked the two away in their stomachs. He backflipped and landed in an attack position. He taunted, "Oh, sorry, did you want to fight me?"

While Zach had fought those two, Nari had started her battle with the guards who had recovered after Zach's Air Cutlass attack. She cracked her whip at them, snaking the tip around one of their swords. It ripped the sharp object out of the guard's grasp and landed safely behind her. As the other ran in, taking advantage of Nari's brief inattention to him, she stopped him by wrapping her whip around his ankles. He fell to the ground with a crack of protest from his chin and his sword scattered from his grip as well, joining the other behind Nari.

The first guard who had been disarmed charged in at her, swinging his fists. Nari reacted quickly and caught his wrists together. She used his momentum to swing him around into the other guard, causing them to hit the wall again. She closed her eyes, then began to crack her whip against the floor sharply, chanting, "Bring forth the evils of these sinners! **_Repent_**- ah!"

Nari was bowled over by the female guard, who had slipped past Zach's defenses. Zach was busy figting the last male guard. While the two guys continued to fight, Nari engaged the woman in combat.

Zach blocked the male's swings, one after another. Finally, he was fed up and kicked the man away. He backflipped again and immediately got into an attack stance. He braced himself, pointing the spear at the man, and bellowed, "_Pyro Spear_!"

Zach's spear was lit up in flames and he charged forward, sliding across the floor. The attack hit the man in the side as he sidestepped in the nick of time. The guard savagely swung his sord at Zach, scoring a hit across Zach's chest as he jumped back to avoid the blow. Zach winced, then focused again on the battle. He planted the spear point in the floor and grasped it in his hands. He used it as leverage to perform a roundhouse kick to the man's temple. The guard fell to the cold tiled floor noiselessly.

Zach swiftly turned his attention to Nari, who was having some difficulty with the woman. He ran forward and slammed the blunt end of his spear against the female guard's head. She fell onto the tiles as well.

Nari panted, then smoothed some of her bangs back. "Thanks."

Zach nodded, breathing heavily and ignoring his bleeding wound as he went back to work on the lock again.

"Wait."

Zach gave Nari an exasperated glance, then brightened. "Duh."

Nari finished checking the guards over and tossed Zach the keys. He deftly caught them, then unlocked the door. As he entered, Nari caught the crimson blood dripping onto the white floor. She sighed and began cracking her whip against the floor. She muttered, "Always makin' me work, yeesh. First Aid!"

Zach felt his chest stitching itself back together and the blood disappeared. "Thanks." He returned his attention to the dark room. "Hey, Lucas, you in here, dude?"

The two heard someone stir sluggishly. "Huh?"

"Lucas, rise 'n' shine, sleeping ugly." Zach prodded Lucas with his spear's blunt end with a mischievous look on his face.

"Zach, dam it, stop that!" Lucas jumped out of bed, avoiding the spear. Then he paused and rubbed his eyes. "Wait a minute, _Zach_?"

"The one and only, dude." Zach smirked.

"So, I'm gettin' outta here?" Lucas grinned.

"Oh, c'mon, socialize later, girls." Nari appeared in the room. "I dunno how long those guards are gonna stay unconscious."

Nari noticed Lucas. "Oh, there you are. Hey." Then she realized that he was only in his boxers. She gave him a once over and smirked. "Nice. Very nice."

Lucas flushed as Zach laughed. "Get some clothes on and let's get outta here."

Lucas turned on the lights and scrambled for clothes. He grabbed what he could stuff into his bag and managed to recover his longsword, as well. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's leave."

The three quickly exited the building without too many disturbances. Zach remembered to put all of the locks back as he had found them and the guards were propped up as if they had fallen asleep. Although they agreed that it was risky, the trio returned to the room at the inn for the remainder of the night.

"So, what happened?" Zach quizzed Lucas once they were positive that the doors and the windows had been locked tight and the curtains drawn. The only light was from the soft artificial glow of the fireplace.

Zach explained what had happened up until he had to leave Yuna and the others. He shook his head as he glanced at his left hand. "When I arrived here two days ago, they began running tests on me and put this on me. I don't know what they were going to do next. Probably more tests."

"What is it?" Nari leaned in closer to examine his hand.

"A Savior Stone." Lucas answered as he offered his hand up for examination. There was a Savior Stone, indeed, in the shape of a sword and seemed to be like a diamond. A gold crest outlined it.

Zach frowned. "Why put one on you?"

Lucas shrugged as his brows furrowed. "We weren't able to find out."

A silence passed between the three for a moment. Nari broke it suddenly with a yawn. "Whoo, I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to sleep. We should probably leave here at dawn."

"Agreed." The two young men nodded.

Lucas offered, "I'll keep watch since I've already slept tonight."

"Thanks, man." Zach settled down into his bed comfortably. Within moments, Nari and Zach were asleep, leaving Lucas awake. Lucas glanced around, then he started to examine the Savior Stone, as if in the hope of a clue or two.

"So, what's the point of putting these Stones on the heirs of the Four Seraphim? It makes no sense." Lucas muttered to himself. "It's not as if we can redo whatever our ancestors did."

Lucas decided to give up on anymore sleeping and set to being alert and on guard.

When the sun rose, the travellers rose with it and checked out of their room. They wandered through the busy city crowd, unnoticed, and reached a rheaird launching area. They took off, Nari and Zach doubling up since they were the smaller of the threesome. They soared through the air, never looking behind them. They didn't notice a pair of cruel brown eyes following their movements from the moment they left their room.

Victor turned to his guards. "Follow them and keep me posted on their movements. With luck, they'll bring us back to the rest of the descendants."

"Yes, Cardinal Veele." the two black clothed halflings slunk away without a sound.

-------------------------------------

Ena and Andrew stood outside the sprawling mountain city of Hima.

"How can it not fall off the mountain?" Ena gaped as she shielded her eyes from the glaring sun, taking in the haphazardous sight.

"Engineering." Andrew grunted as he moved up the path. "Are you _sure_ you sensed Roelle here?"

"Positive. Besides, didn't the tracker say he's here?" Ena caught up with the swift ninja.

Andrew glanced at it. "Hang on. Lemme make sure it's still set on him." He tapped the screen. "Yup, he's here."

Ena looked around, amazed by all the shops. "How are we supposed to find him in a place this big? It seems like they're all nothing but shops and stores!"

"Don't forget, Neotokio is _way_ bigger than this place." Andrew pointed out as he glanced around. "But you do have a point. It's almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"Well, all we can do is trust our instincts. Let's get started." Ena gave a resigned sigh.

"Yeah." Andrew nodded, attention distracted by the weapons shop.

When the two settled in for the night, they selected a hotel called Mountainview. The hotel was aptly named, for all of the rooms had floor to ceiling glass windows that led onto balconies. They offered beautiful views into the undeveloped valley below them.

"The windows are a good escape." Andrew muttered to himself.

Ena raised an eyebrow and cocked her pointed ear. "What'd you say?"

"The windows- they give a good escape route." Andrew pointed out. "If we need to leave, especially if anyone comes after Roelle after we've got him, it's a good way to escape."

Ena considered the argument, then gave a chuckle. "Wow, I never would've thought of that. I'm glad you came with me, Andrew."

"Weeellll, honestly," Andrew sheepishly looked at the floor, "It's become an instinct because of Sheena and my parents."

"What? What do you mean?" Ena raised her eyebrow, vaguely amused at this side of Andrew.

"If I've done something to upset my illustrious leaders, I usually have to make a run for it out the nearest window to escape their wrath." Andrew answered with a serious face.

Ena burst into laughter. "Quiet the troublemaker, aren't you, little boy?"

"Well, I do enjoy my pranks." Andrew smoothly grinned.

Ena just continued to laugh at Andrew's expense.

The next day, Ena and Andrew split up to cover the large city. They were able to keep in touch through the communication spheres that Zelos had given the groups for in case of emergency or if their rescue plans involved splitting up. The spheres were small and fit right into the palm of one's hand indiscreetly.

Ena wandered around, gazing at all of the shops. As she was coming out of a souviner shop that had caught her attention, a sudden tugging was felt by her heart. There was a familiar heart coming into her presence. She frowned, knowing that it wasn't Andrew. It seemed to be someone whom she had known for a long time, then forgotten.

She paused in the crowd looking around. The heart was coming closer. Suddenly, she saw a man with a strange hairdo of midnight blue hair and piercing blood red eyes. He was tall, powerful, and imposing, wearing wealthy clothes. He was talking genially with a lady at his right. She had soft red hair that was left down, cascading to her knees, and gentle green eyes that were almond shaped. Ena was able to tell two things- the man was the familiar heart and the woman had some nymphic blood in her.

Ena was confused. The presence of the heart was familiar, but she couldn't discern anything from it. There were steel walls that guarded his heart that only allowed a small trickle of constant pain to seep through. Her expression softened into slight sympathy.

"...So, milord, I hope you're pleased with-" the woman was cut off by the man. The man stopped, catching sight of Ena and gazing intently at her.

Ena felt herself drowning in his gaze. It was warm and calculating, a sudden flicker of recognition dancing across his face. She looked at him closely and gave a sharp intake of breath by the memory that beseiged her.

**Flashback**

_"I won't hurt you, Ena. I swear this won't hurt." _**asoft voice whispered in her ear, pressure on her body. **

**Ena was suddenly hit by an explosion of smells, sounds, and crystal clear sight.**

**End Flashback**

The man seemed to wake up from his trance at her gasp. "I'm sorry, my lady. You just look like someone I used to know."

Ena dumbly nodded her head, not trusting her voice. The man gave her a small bow and the two continued walking past. She was extremely baffled now. What was up with that? What did that man have to do with her past and how she was the way she was now?

A sudden violent tugging at her heart reminded her of her mission. Roelle seemed to be nearby and in pain.

"Andrew!" she called into the communicator. "I sense Roelle! He's close and he's in pain!"

"I"m already on my way! I've got him pinpointed to an hotel called Earthen Escapades!" Andrew's voice came back, crystal clear.

"I'm in front of it now!" Ena slammed to a stop from her run. "Hurry!"

Andrew appeared out of the crowd and nodded grimly. "Let's go in."

The two stepped in and looked around. It was an extravagant hotel with flowers in pots of eart everywhere. A natural spring ran through, channeled by a man-made fountain, with flora recreating the image of a babbling brook. The air itself seemed to lazily hum with tranquility.

A woman with curly violet hair and violet eyes glanced up at their appearance. "Welcome to Earthen Escapades. How may I help you?"

"Oh, we're thinking of opening up our own hotel. When we were doing research, this place came up as one of the highest-rated in customer satisfaction." Andrew gave an easy grin. "We thought we'd look around and get some tips." He glanced down at Ena. "Right, _honey_?"

"Oh, of course, darling. We were very impressed with the reviews of this wonderful hotel." Ena smiled back at him as she took his arm and stepped a little closer to him.

If the receptionist thought it was strange for a bizarrely dressed ninja and a perfectly normal girl to be together, she didn't say anything. Instead, she offered brightly, "Would you like to speak with Miss Rose, the owner?"

"No, that's okay. Thank you, though. I think we'll do better if we walk around on our own." Andrew continued grinning easily.

"Certainly. Please, let me know if there's anything else that I can do for you." The receptionist gave a sunny smile.

"We will. Thank you very much, miss." Ena and Andrew walked towards the elevator, talking about the decor and the style. Their comments as they waited for the elevator were completely innocent. When they stepped inside of the elevator and the doors had closed, Ena waited for the elevator to descend before bursting into laughter.

"That was some pretty sly acting there, _darling_." she nudged him in the side.

Andrew shrugged off-handedly. "I guess it's a good thing that I paid attention in my espionage classes, huh?"

------------------------------------------

Roelle shivered as he lay under his thick blankets, listening to his guard gnaw noisily at a drumstick. He didn't like being caged up under the ground. There wasn't enough warmth, enough light. And he didn't know how his sister was doing. Was she eating? Was she sleeping? Was she even breathing?

Roelle shook his head, trying to clear all of the morbid thoughts out of his treacherous mind. Of course Miralle was okay- he'd feel it if anything happened to her. Anyways, nothing _should_ happen- Pryor had given his word that they wouldn't be harmed during their time away from the castle. Roelle assumed that they were going to return to the castle, given Pryor's wording. However, there was no telling.

He turned over and sighed, looking into the dying fire- light and warmth. There was some comfort watching the dancing flames. He spied a pale green flame near the bottom of the coals. His eyes stared at it, trying to think of when he'd seen a similar color before. Upon realization, he had to stifle his groan. Of course! It was when he and Miralle had met Mana while they were at the Tree.

The memories of that fateful ran through his head.

**Flashback**

**Roelle and Miralle wandered around the Tree as Lloyd had instructed them to. Miralle glanced over it with sad eyes. **_"Can't you feel it, Roelle? This Tree is so sad. It's crying out to me, wanting to be loved and saved from whatever is stealing its love."_

**Roelle stopped in his tracks slowly. **_"What? How can you understand it?"_

_"I don't know." _**Miralle shook her head. **_"I just do."_

**Suddenly, Roelle tensed. He could sense the mana in this area suddenly concentrating. He stepped in front of his sister where the mana was building most rapidly and brandished his sword. **

**With a radiance of light, a woman appeared, dressed in green, white, and some gold. She held a staff and leaves from the Yggdrasil Tree covered her ears. Her gentle eyes and warm smile made Roelle relax instinctively. **

_"Well met, my little Guardian." _**she softly said, voice like leaves whispering in the wind.**

**Roelle and Miralle glanced at each other. **_"Who are you?" _**they asked in unison, standing close together**.

_"I am Mana. I am the guardian of the Yggdrasill Tree. However, I am also Martel. I am many souls. We are all the same and we are one."_ **Mana gave a mysterious smile.**

**Roelle's eyebrows creased as Miralle gasped, a smile spreading across her lips. **

_"Martel? So, you're kind of like an avatar of the Goddess Martel?" _**Miralle blurted out**.

**Mana laughed. _"_**_There was a goddess of the world, whom has long been forgotten. She helped to create the world eons before Martel was even brought into this world. Martel was never a goddess to begin with. She was a half-elf with a brother named Mithos. I thought that Lloyd and the others had already explained that."_

**Miralle's smile vanished as she thought about Mana's reply.**

_"But, Mana, why appear to us? We're just two orphans. We don't even know who our parents were." _**Roelle protested.**

_"Martel sensed her blood within you and urged me to appear to you. She wanted you to know that you are not alone." _**Mana gave a motherly smile to the befuddled twins.**

**After a few moments of glancing at the other and remaining silent, Roelle muttered, **_"I guess Pryor wasn't kidding after all."_

_"No, he was correct in the aspect that you are of the Yggdrasil line. Do you wish to know how?"_ **Mana offered, holding her hand out. A small orb of mana condensed into existance, a mingling of black and white.**

**The twins looked at each other again, as if holding a conversation with each other in their minds. In unison, they nodded and turned their sky blue eyes on Mana.** _"Yes, we do."_

_"Then, I shall give you this memory. It will be in both of your memories, but it will not unlock until the opportune moment." _**Mana glided to the two and placed it in the air before them. The two reached for it as one and it vanished into their hands. **

_"Now, I would like to speak with you two about your special powers..."_

**End Flashback**

Roelle gave a wayward smile at the memory. He had a family after all. And he wasn't strange- apparently, whenever he was guarding someone he cared for with all of his heart, his hidden abilities would come out. Supposedly, they were a gene that he inherited from Mithos. However, he hadn't quite learned yet how to control his abilities- the superhuman strength, the elf-like hearing and sight, and the inability to feel his pain.

Roelle gave another sigh. He wished he could get out of here and find Miralle.

-------------------------------

"Look, I told you what I think. It's a classic move- put the captive in either the highest or the lowest floor of a base and put lots of obstacles in between the captive and the rescuers. So, I say we go to the fifth floor." Andrew stubbornly said.

"I say we go to the third floor." Ena replied, punching the 3rd floor button in the elevator.

Andrew scowled. When they stepped off, Ena concentrated and walked forward slowly. She knocked on a door at the very end of the hall.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice replied.

"Room service." Ena cheerfully said.

"About time! I was wondering what was taking-" a man opened the door, only to be met by Andrew's fist against his temple. The man went down immediately.

Ena stepped into the room. "Roelle, are you in here?"

Roelle looked up from the bed. "Ena? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me and Andrew. You ready to get outta here?" Ena jerked her thumb towards the door.

"Completely." Roelle stood up. "Let me grab some stuff, though."

Suddenly, the sound of combat was heard behind them.

"Might wanna hurry up, kid. There's a buncha enemies headed this way!" Andrew grunted as he unleashed crazy ninja moves on the crowd.

"I'm hurrying!" Roelle replied, stuffing various papers into his bag, along with various other items. "Okay, I'm good."

"Andrew, cover me so that I can get to the hall!" Ena summoned her scepter and bashed a guy over the head with it.

Andrew and Ena inched out into the crowded hallway with Roelle hidden behind them. When Ena saw that she had a clear shot, she wasted no time. She twirled her scepter like a baton as she changed a spell, then threw it up into the air. "Strike down the sins of my enemies!"

She caught it and brandished the top at the cronies. "**Cleansing Chariot!**"

A gold beam of light in the form of a pegsus drawn chariot swept down the hall, knocking away all enemies and leaving them unconscious. The three escapees ran swiftly after it and made it to the elevator safely. They were able to slip past the receptionist without any attention while she talked on the telephone with her boyfriend.

They heaved a sigh of relief in unison.

"How did you find me?" Roelle asked the two older teens as they moved away from the hotel, back into the crowded marketplace.

"Ena used Verius' powers to sense you and I used a mana tracker. Things worked out pretty well between that." Andrew replied.

"What happened to _you_? I was sensing pain from you. Were you hurt emotionally?" Ena gave Roelle a concerned look.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it." Roelle waved it off.

"Alright, but if you want to talk about it, just tell me, okay?" Ena put a hand on the blonde teen's shoulder with a warm smile.

Andrew began chuckling. "You're such a mom."

Ena flushed red and retorted, "So what?! Someone needs to keep you in line!"

Andrew's response was to continue chuckling.

Ena huffed off and went to a food merchant's stall.

Roelle grinned and nudged Andrew in the ribs. "I wonder what Mom's gonna cook for us tonight?"

The two guys burst into laughter as Ena ignored them. When she rejoined the two, she promptly grabbed their ears and led them back to the inn, the boys complaining the whole way.

_There it is! Sorry if there's any typos in the last part, I forgot to add it beforehand. Hehe._

_Please review!_

_Someone sent me a review that really amused me. I was going to reply to it, but I think my little sister is about to kill me for taking her internet time._

_Once again, please review!_

_Ethereal Thoughts_


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, guys! I know my chapters take forever to get up, but they're usually pretty long. Soooo, here is yet another long chapter! Enjoy it!**

**I am going to add something here. Someone sent me a review that amused me very much, so I'm gonna reply to it now. It was a review for chapter 10. **

**"****Ahahahahahahahahaha I KNEW Miralle and Roelle were Mithos's and Martel's desendents!  
Head check! LloydLucas, ColetteCalab, GenisGale, RaineRobyn, SheenaAndrew, ZelosZenos, AntonyPersea, RegalRory, YuanYuna, MithosMiralle, MartelRoelle... that leaves Nari, Ena, and maybe Zach.  
Ena is most likely the heir of Anna. They have Alot of thing in common, both lived at a human ranch like place, they fallow patten, so I'll put them down as AnnaEna.  
Something is off with Nari being Boltzman's heir, I mean, he played one of smallest parts in the game! There were several people who played larger parts like Chocolate, Clara, Aisha... The list goes on and on and on. And we have one other major charitor who doesn't have a desendent and needs one. Botta! And we can't really have a good famely tree if we don't even know his first name."  
**

**That's most of it. Whoever you are, sorry, I don't have the review' info at hand right now. Anyways, Zach is a descendant of Zelos, okay? Buuut, you do give me ideas on other people who could be the ancestors. But I guess you'll have to wait, now, won't you? (insert evil laugh) It's a shocker who Ena's ancestor turns out to be. (yet another evil laugh)**

CHAPTER 12

That night, the three were sleeping peacefully in their room when Andrew awoke with a start. He glanced around, on full alert with his eyes lidded with sleep, watching for anything out of the ordinary. As his eyes slid over the window, he saw shadows slinking beneath the sill.

Wasting no time, Andrew got up and yawned widely, giving the impression that he had not seen anything. He stumbled around the room, "accidentally" waking up Roelle and Ena.

"Huh?" Ena jerked her head up as she felt him fall on her stomach. "What're you doing, Andrew?"

"We've got unwanted visitors. Don't let them know that we know they're here. Get our stuff gathered together." Andrew said under his breath as he shook his head. "Oh, sorry, Val, didn't see you there. It's really hard to see in here, y'know?"

Andrew gave a foolish, sleepy grin as he backed up and fell over Roelle. At that moment, the unwanted visitors sprang in , shattering the glass and scattering it everywhere. Andrew grabbed his katana as he rolled back onto his feet and engaged the perpetrators immediately. In all, there were three of them, dressed in midnight black clothing and armed with swords.

Awakened immediately, Roelle drew his sword and charged in to fight one of the intruders that had gotten around Andrew's katana. Parrying his enemy's attacks, Roelle waited for the opportune moment. He took all hits stoically, not flinching as his blood trickled through the small cuts that sliced his arms. Then, he suddenly saw a glaw in his opponent's attack, he took his chance.

His sword flared golden, in synch with his moon tattoo that was visible on his bare ankle. He shouted, "_Nova Blade_!"

The golden sword shot into the man's torso and exploded in a shower of sparks. The sword withdrew from the torso with a sickening squelch and Roelle gave a grim nod. Turning around, he attacked the second intruder.

Andrew's patience began to wear thin. This guy was taking too long to defeat. Better finish him up with a big bang. With a savage grin, Andrew's dragon tattoo on his neck began to flare a garnet red light. The katana's blade erupted in flames and his face was even more savage than before. "Say goodbye!" Andrew snarled as he drew his katana back and exploded, "_Hellfire's Call!_"

The flames on the sword swirled as Andrew swung it down and struck his enemy. The man was surrounded by flames. He didn't even have time to call out in pain before he was incinerated. The flames disappeared and a pile of ashes were the only thing left behind. Andrew turned to the last man and Roelle, who had stopped their duel in astonishment. The man quivered and promptly threw himself out the window.

Andrew's tattoo stopped radiating and his face regained its normal composure. He was silent, then declared, "We're not safe here anymore."

Ena gave them their bags. "I packed while you guys held them off."

"Good job, Mom. Thanks." Roelle accepted his bag and dodged Ena's swat.

The three left the room mostly intact. They did leave a good bit more money than was necessary, though.

----------------------------------------------------------

Nari gave a sigh of relief as Luin came into view. "Oh, thank the Goddess! A reprive!"

Zach scowled at her. "It's not _that_ bad to ride with me, is it?"

"Um, _yeah_. Your shoulders are too broad to hang onto and I don't feel like touching your waist." Nari proclaimed as she leapt off the rheaird before it touched the ground. "I don't feel safe with you driving."

"Fine, then you can ride with _Lucas_ tomorrow!" Zach snapped, landing the rheaird and cutting the engine off. He stepped off of it and put it away in the wingpack peevishly.

"Guys, I know you love each other, but can you please stop the spats?" Lucas groaned as he stored his rheaird in its wingpack.

"I don't love him/her! He/she's absolutely _impossible_!" the two exclaimed in unison, jabbing a finger at the other.

Lucas held up his hands placatingly. "Sorry. I think we'll be in a better mood after we've had some food and rest. Agreed?"

The teens nodded. "That had _better_ include some ice cream." Nari mutinously muttered.

Lucas burst into laughter as the three entered the bustling lake town of Luin. "Don't worry, little girl, I'll show you the best places around here. You might have forgotten, but this _is_ my hometown."

Nari perked up. "Oh, yeah, it is." Then she seemed to catch herself and replaced her usual sarcastic face. "That just means free food and free lodging."

Zach took the opportunity to laugh at Lucas' expense and get away with it. "Oh, yeahhh, time to repay me for my _wonderful_ hospitality."

Lucas eyed Zach, as if debating about whether or not to hit him. Apparently deciding against it, Lucas sighed. "I suppose. First, though, we're gonna eat before we go anywhere near my house."

"Huh? Why?" Zach elonquently asked.

"My parents can't cook. Either of them. I barely survived puberty eating their charcoal." Lucas grimly said.

Nari and Zach gave a sympathetic shudder. After a moment, Zach promptly pushed Lucas into the crowd. "Nooowwww, before heading off to death by charcoal, let's get some food!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Ena landed her rheaird outside of Luin. She sighed and leaned across the console in front of her. "Okay, guys, why don't we rest here tonight?"

"Whatever you say, Mom." Roelle impishly grinned.

"Roelle, I _swear_ by the Goddess, one of these times, I'm gonna knock your head off." Ena scowled at him, then grinned, "But for now, we're eating dinner. Andrew's buying."

"What?!" Andrew demanded, "Why me?!"

Ena replied as she glanced around, "Because you're the one with all of the money." Her eyes settled on a restuarant with an elegant sign proclaiming, "Water's Rest." "Let's try this place."

Roelle and Andrew looked at it. Sitting on the water, it was a light colored wooden house with light blue trimmings and soft light lighting the pathways around it in the evening sun. Exotic looking plants decorated the outside and music could be heard softly over the water. The two guys looked at each other.

"This place looks expensive." Roelle muttered.

"I _know_ she's doing this on purpose." Andrew groaned. "I just know it's revenge for starting the 'Mom' thing."

"Zach! Nari! Lucas! You're okay!" the two heard Ena exclaim.

They rushed in and saw Ena hugging a certain red-headed teen.

"Nari!" Andrew exclaimed, somewhat startled. "Lucas, Zach, you guys are all okay?"

"Lucas, man, am I glad to see you!" Roelle clapped hands with him as they gave each other a guy hug.

"Are you doin' okay, Ro? They didn't stick a Stone on you, too, did they?" Lucas asked, concern in his eyes.

"Yeah. The same hour I arrived." Roelle showed him the crescent-moon shaped topaz Savior Stone on the back of his left hand.

Lucas rubbed his own sword-shaped Savior Stone. "What's the point of it?"

"Who cares right now? Must have food!" Nari and Ena proclaimed dramatically.

The group chuckled and Lucas called over the crowd, "Hey, Rajir! Where're you at?"

An handsome young man with wavy gold and orange hair with tangerine eyes that were common to fireaids appeared, his dark tan face bright with a smaile. "Luc, man, you're back!"

"Just for a day or two, Raj." Lucas gave the young man a hug. "How're you doing?"

"It's been busy since you left, dude. And look at you, with your new classy friends! Someone's been getting around." Rajir gave a teasing grin.

"I'll ignore that last comment and help you guys out tonight if you'll give my friends a table and the specialty..." Lucas offered, a tempting tone in his voice.

"Sold. Right this way, my friends." Rajir gathered up some menus and silverware and led the group to a quiet corner with soft lighting and a peaceful mural on the walls.

Once everyone had been settled, Rajir took their drink orders and motioned for Lucas to follow him with a jerk of his handsome head. Lucas followed him, a puzzled look on his face.

Out of earshot of other people, Rajir turned to Lucas and seriously said, "Lucas, you can't stay here. There's these weird guards that have been rounding up some of the halflings and putting them in containment camps. They're also on the look out for some escapees from prisons in Flanoir, Hima, Asgard, and Old Exire. Somehow, I think you know something about that."

Lucas replied to the first statement with, "I thought they stopped that after the War on Halflings? That was, what, seven years ago? The Order of the Elements had to give an official disbandment to put a half to the detainment camps." With a frown, he added, "Something's off."

"What about the escapees?" Rajir crossed his arms.

Lucas waved it off, "Later. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Well, Jaelyn was forced to put TEBOs on all of us halflings working here. The government told her if she didn't, she'd have to shut down." Rajir shook his head and said, "But the weirdest thing is this- I got a tattoo on my palm, but I didn't go and get it done. I just woke up after a dream about some funky thing and it's on my palm and my TEBO's turned into a star."

"What?" Lucas exclaimed, grabbing his friend's hand and examining it. He sighed. "I don't believe it. How many more are there?"

Rajir cocked his head and gave Lucas a look that clearly said 'What the hell?' He asked, "Lucas, what're you talking about, dude?"

"It ties in with the escapee thing. I'll tell you later, okay?" Lucas promised. "Let's just hurry and get your shift over with."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Lucas gave a sigh of relief and rubbed his shoulder. "I'd forgotten how busy it could get in there."

The others in his traveling group had remained outside, in the back, where they had sat in the garden, dipping their feet into the cool, clear water. They had been chatting and catching up for several hours. It was 9:30 in the evening and the restaurant had just closed.

Rajir nodded. "And it's not even holiday season."

Lucas groaned, "Don't remind me. Let's just get outta here."

After a few seconds of silence, Rajir asked as he followed Lucas, "When are you gonna explain this tattoo thing to me, dude?"

Lucas promised once again, "Once we're all in private."

Lucas and Rajir led the little group along, until they came to a house that lay on the outskirts of the city, near the statue of Lloyd. It was small and white, with little rows of flowers outside of it and the water behind it. Lucas knocked on the door rather loudly. He wasn't surprised in the least when a ruffled old man opened the door and demanded, "Whaddya want, you- Lucas? Is that you?"

"Hey, Dad." Lucas grinned, hugging his short father. "I've got Rajir and some of my new friends with me."

"Well, come in, all of ye." the short man stood aside. His auburn-brown hair was turning silver, but his brown eyes still held warmth and a youthful twinkle in them.

The five newcomers q uietly entered the house, giving various forms of respect and thanks for letting them stay.

Two pairs of eyes followed the group, glowing luminously in the darkness from the full moon above them. They settled themselves comfortably in the ditch across the street crom the house and kept their eyes trained on the silhouettes travelling from window to window.

------------------------------------------------------

Rory and Robyn stumbled through the showy city of Phalenyr with Caleb and Miralle in tow. Their rescue of Miralle had been fairly easy. Miralle's guard had fallen asleep and she'd simply wandered through the building until she found herself outside of an inn called The Snowy Rose. She was found by her group almost immediately.

Currently, they were trying to get out of town as quickly as possible. However, their progress was being delayed by a sudden blizzard.

Robyn called to Rory over the howling wind, "Rory, there's no_ way_ we're getting out of here now! Let's see if we can find where Yuan's staying if he's still here!"

Rorry nodded and took the group into the Cathedral of Light for a brief respite. Miralle shivered violently. She hadn't known she was in Phalenyr and was only wearing her usual thin red dress. Caleb fished out a blanket from the group's bags and placed it around Miralle's shoulders. He and Robyn then sandwiched the poor teen between them.

As they tried to warm up Miralle, Rory found the communicator and opened a channel. "Hello, Regal, are you there?"

"Rory? What is it?" Regal's voice floated into the air, disturbing the soft tranquility.

"Is Yuan still in Phalenyr?"

"I believe so. Do you require directions to his residence?" Tapping keys accompanied Regal's voice.

"Yes, that we do." Rory replied, suppressing a shiver from the cold air.

Regal quickly relayed the directions and the two noble bid each other good bye.

Rory sighed, "Are we ready to go back out there?"

Caleb suggested, "Why don't you and I find Yuan's house and bring back appropriate clothes for Miralle? Perhaps the blizzard will have cleared up by then and we can leave."

Rory nodded his agreement. "Very well. Let's go."

Once the two were positive that Miralle would be fine, they set back out into the roaring storm.

Robyn and Miralle sat on a bench as they waited, concentrating only on keeping warm.

Miralle examined the Cathedral, feeling somewhat at home. Since she and Roelle had been raised by monks, many hours of their lives had been spent inside places of worship. They had prayed, played, learned, and thought in the pews, all of which had been sources of amusement to the friendly monks.

Miralle's crystal blue eyes looked upon a stained glass window of the Goddess, with her flowing green hair, and the God, resplendant wings illuminating the night. It was still so strange to her that the immortal God and Goddess were actually mere mortal half-elf siblings that had lived millenia ago. Musing about it, she supposed that, in a sense, Martel was a goddess of sorts since she still lived on in Mana.

Speaking of Mana, Miralle still didn't quite understand what her hidden power was.

**Flashback**

_"Hidden powers?" _**Miralle and Roelle chorused.** _"What are you talking about?"_

_"You've noticed them. You don't know what they are, that's all."_** Mana gave the two a gentle smile. **_"Miralle, coouldn't you feel the loneliness of those exspheres when you first met Pryor?"_

**Miralle thought back and and remembered how she had suddenly been hit with those waves of emotion.** _"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"_

_"You are blessed, child.Your ancestor, Martel, had the same power. You are empathic. You can sense the emotions of others. With this power, you shall help the Yggdrasill tree to flourish, along with me." _**Mana held Miralle's face in her hands. **_"When the time comes, of course. Use this power throughout your journey to hone it. Use it to learn how to keep peace and foster love."_

**Miralle was quite confused, but noded her head.**

_"Now, my guardian, your power comes from your ancestor, Mithos, as well. It is hereditary. Have you noticed?" _**Mana fixed him with her penetrating emerald gaze.**

**Roelle gave a small nod.** _"I think I know what you're talking about. When I'm protecting Miralle, I've noticed that sometimes, I can't feel pain or I sudenly have more speed or more strength."_

**Mana rewarded him with a smile. **_"Yes, you're correct. Your power comes from protecting those you care deeply about. However, " _**Mana's voice became grave, **_"both of you must be quite cautious when you are exploring the limits of your powers. Do not overexhert yourself when using them, for if you do, it may set of a chain of events that are irreversible."_

**The twins shivered from the cold chill traveling down their spine. They meekly replied,** _"Yes, we'll be careful."_

_"Good." _**Mana's face softened once more. **_"Now, if you two evere need anything either come here or touch the tattoo that Aska and Luna gave you and say my name."_

**They nodded again and Mana smiled at them as she hugged them. **_"Be safe, my brethren. Tell Yuan Martel says hello."_

**With that, Mana was gone in a flash of light, leaving behind a pair of very stunned twins.**

**End Flashback **

Use her powers to keep peace and foster love... hmmm. Miralle grinned. She'd probably get plenty of practice with that in their large group. She gave a larger grin. Especially between Nari and Andrew!

At that moment, Rory and Caleb stumbled back in, Yuan-less. They were, however, carrying an assortment of packages.

"What? Where's Yuan?" Robyn inquired, still huddling with Miralle.

"Somewhere else, apparently." Caleb muttered, distributing his collection of packages.

"Don't worry, though. Somehow, Yuan knew we'd be coming through here and left these parcels at his house. Here's Miralle's." Rory handed Miralle a bag with her name on it.

She opened it and found a gold coat with the sun on the chest area of it. It was also trimmed with some sort of white fur. She immediately slipped it on and snuggled into it. "It's so warm!"

Robyn examined the bag's other contents. "Here's some pants and boots." She handed them to the rejuvenated teen. Miralle pulled them on and stood. "Alright, I'm ready now. When are we going?"

"Right now." Caleb declared. "The storm's stopped for a moment, so we're taking the chance while we can."

"Agreed." Rory stood and offered his arm to Robyn. "Let us go back into the weather."

Robyn accepted it with a smile and the foursome wandered into the afternoon sun.

Once they had gotten started, they cleared the snowy continent fairly quickly. Rory looked at the other rheaird, which carried Caleb and Miralle. "Does anyone have a preference where we land at?"

"Ooh, ooh! Luin! I've always wanted to go there!" Miralle chirped from behind Caleb, who suppressed a twitch around his mouth.

"Very well, we'll land there. It's on the way to Neotokio, so it's not as if it's out of the way." Rory reasoned as he adjusted their heading slightly more north.

-------------------------------------------

When the group landed in Luin that evening, Miralle jerked her head up. "I think Roelle's around here somewhere!"

"What?" Robyn turned to the teen, blinking.

"Yeah! I don't know how to explain it, but I sense something that reminds me of Roelle!" Miralle tugged at Rory's shirt. "C'mon, hurry!"

Rory put away his rheaird and waited for Caleb to put up his. Once he had, they discovered that Miralle had already dashed off. Luckily, her golden hair stood out against the crowd and she was easily found.

Miralle finally came to a pause outside of a restaurant called Water's Rest. As she turned her head to look at it, she was lifted into the air with a cry of, "Miralle, you're okay!" and twirled around.

"Roelle!" Miralle hugged her twin tightly. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Caleb, Rory, Robyn! You guys are all alright, too!" Lucas appeared, wearing his waiter's uniform.

"Of course we are. Why wouldn't we be?" Caleb sardonically commented.

"It's good to see you as well." Rory clasped Lucas' hand.

"Where's everyone else?" Robyn hugged Lucas.

"Inside, helping out. Would you like anything to eat?" Lucas answered, with a flourish of his arms.

"Of course! I'm starved!" Miralled cheered.

Lucas ushered them in, unaware of eyes staring at their group. Two halflings watched them. One was a mermaid-sylph mix and the other was of sprite-fireaid ancestry.

The mermaid-sylph, with long, flowing blue hair and blue tinged skin of the merpeople and gold eyes of the sylph, glanced at a communicator and pressed abutton.

"Cardinal Veele." she musically said.

"Yes, what is it, Arilph?" a voice replied back smoothly.

"More of them have joined the escapees. Do we still wait?"

"Yes. You and Pyris wait until the last group has joined them. Then, you may commence the plan." Veele stated.

"Yes, milord."

"Good."

With that, the connection was cut.

Arilph turned to Pyris. "You heard him."

Pyris snorted. His skin was a deep tan and his hair was a flaming orange. Sprite wings came from his back, a fragile transparent green. "More waiting. Bah."

"You know, it only makes the end more rewarding." Arilph softly said.

Pyris didn't reply. He simply went back to watching the group of descendants through the windows from their vantage point.

--------------------------------------

Zenos sighed with some aggravation. Gale hadn't shut up and Antony hadn't said anything at all since takeoff six hours ago. For some strange reason yet unknown, where ever Yuna had been taken moved constantly.

He peered closely at the tracking system on the console of the rheaird. Something was coming up and fast. It was also where ever Yuna was. Looking through the clouds, Zenos squinted, then exclaimed, "Whoa! Slow down!"

"- and I said- What?! Why?" Gale broke off his sentence.

"You don't wanna hit Old Exire, do you?" Antony grunted.

Gale considered this, then backed off of his throttle significantly. "I suppose you have a point."

The three guys circled around Old Exire until they found a landing space. When they were given the all-clear, they landed and quickly got out of the way of other fliers.

Zenos looked around the city appreciatively. The old stone buildings were still holding together very nicely and it was a very large, sprawling place now. The exotic air of the city was only intensified whenever a cloud drifted through the city.

Gale whistled. "I'm impressed."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. C'mon. Let's get a room so we'll have a base of operations while we search for Yuna." Zenos said.

"Very well. May we also stop by a weapons shop?" Antony requested. I fear this blade that I have is quickly outliving its use."

"Sure. Let's go ahead and do that. I see one right over there." Zenos motioned off towards his right.

As they walked into the weapons shop, Zenos eyes Gale's childish kendama. "Um, hey, Gale, no offense or anything, but... don't you think it's time for a more... menacing weapon?"

Gale stopped in his tracks. He pulled out the brightly colored kendama and examined it. He then looked around the shop, where dark steel weapons of all sorts hung on the walls and on racks. He frowned. "I think I get what you're getting at. Kendamas aren't exactly... manly, are they?"

Zenos shook his head emphatically.

While Antony examined the shortswords, Gale and Zenos experimented with various other weapons. The experiments involved weapons that Gale could juggle and throw accurately. Soon, Antony had a new shortsword and Gale had a pair of daggers concealed beneath his wrist. All he had do to was flick his wrist and he had daggers in his hand.

Gale smirked. "Now all the ladies will be swarming me."

"Whatever makes you feel better." Antony monotonously said.

Gale and Zenos stopped in their tracks, gaping momentarily before Zenos began roaring with laughter and Gale started pouting.

"That was _awesome_, Antony!" Zenos held his hand up for a high-five.

Antony blankly stared at the raised hand. "Why are you doing that?"

Zenos and Gale gave Antony an incredulous look. "Don't you know what a high-five is? It's when you do this..." They slowly high-fived each other.

"What is the purpose of it?" Antony crossed his arms.

"To congratulate each other for a good joke, a tease, or a burn on another person. Like you just did on me." Gale asked, amazed, "Didn't Presea teach you this stuff?

"No. There was no point in it."

Gale gave Zenos a shocked look. Then he declared, "We shall teach you, young grasshopper!"

"First, we get our room." Zenos pulled them off towards a nearby hotel.

----------------------------------------------------

Yuna sighed into her pillow once more. She couldn't wait until she finally got out of this place. She was bored completely out of her mind. Not even writing songs could occupy her anymore. There wasn't even anyone to talk to. Raphael wasn't exactly the liveliest person around. Besides, he looked far too much like Zenos for her liking. It was creepy and only served to make her even more miserable. Wreathe wasn't an option for escape or amusement since Pryor had sealed off summoning in his domain somehow.

Since the others had left a day or two ago, she had been given freedom to roam the castle as she pleased. She could go anywhere, as long as Raphael was with her to ensure she didn't try to escape.

Irritated, Yuna promptly decided to go for a walk to clear her mind. She called, "Raphael."

"Yes, Mistress Yuna?" Raphael's red head appeared.

"Could we go for a walk in the gardens?" Yuna stood, smoothing out the denim jeans she had decided to wear today and slipping into sandals.

"Certainly, Mistress. Are you prepared?" Raphael offered his arm.

"Yeah. Let's go." Yuna took his arm and they walked down the hall.

When they finally reached the gardens, Yuna sighed deeply. Drinking in the sunlight and inhaling the fresh air, she felt content again, as if she could reconnect with the world outside the garden walls and be with her friends again.

All of sudden, she tensed. She could sense someone coming. In her summon spirit's element, her senses were heightened. Turning back towards her attendant, she saw a figure approaching and her jaw dropped. "Ryu?"

The figure stopped and looked at her, then exclaimed, "Yuna!"

Yuna ran towards her brother, then paused in her dash. Her brother was different. His hair was deep green as always and his eyes were the same molten gold as they had always been. But, he walked differently- graceful like the elves- and he had faery wings- they looked like fragile dragonfly wings in a radiant gold color.

"Ryu, how did you get those wings?" she asked as she hugged her older brother.

"I'll tell ya later. What're you doing here?" He chuckled, rubbing her hair. "You're still as short as ever."

She scowled at him playfully. "As _if_. You're still freakishly tall. What are _you_ doing here?"

He laughed. "I was here to talk to Lord Pryor. He's agreed to help my organization for a little price."

"Your organization? Good Goddess, what have you been up to?" Yuna gaped at him.

"Ryu put an arm around her shoulders and grinned, "Little sis, lemme tell ya something. There's something about us that Mom and Dad never told us. They wanted us to live normally. But that's something for another day. Right now, I'll tell you this much- the organization I'm in is a revival of the Order of the Elements. We're gonna try and break some of the detainees out of those camps that the government has started again. Lord Pryor's agreed to help us if we help him find this group of travelers that have weird tattoos on them. Speaking of tattoos, when'd you get that rose one? ... Yuna? Are you okay?"

Yuna had turned pale. "Ryu, you can't!"

"Why not?" Ryu frowned. "And you didn't tell me why you're here."

"I can't tell you, not right now!" Desperate to not be found out, Yuna reverted back to their childhood code talk. "Mong e e tong mong e a tong tong hong e wong yong long dong e rong mong a nong song i o nong i nong nong e o tong o kong i o."

Ryu, puzzled, still nodded. "Fong o u rong dong a yong song."

Yuna nodded. "I'll be there one way or another."

They hugged and parted. Yuna whispered, "Be safe."

Ryu flashed her one of his confident grins again and left.

Raphael flew towards her slowly. "Is everything alright, Mistress?"

Yuna gave him a small smile. "Yes, everything's fine."

"Miss Yuna! How wonderful to see you on this beautiful day." Pryor appeared from a side garden.

The ever present wind suddenly picked up as Yuna politely waved to him. "How are you, Lord Pryor?"

"Quite wonderful, especially now that I see you garbed in the resplendant sun." Pryor smiled at her winningly as he kissed her hand.

"You flatter me too much, milord." Yuna humbly replied.

"Nonsense. I speak only the truth." Pryor returned.

Yuna didn't respond to his statement. She looked around and commented, "We're on Old Exire, aren't we?"

"That we are. However did you figure it out?" Pryor pleasantly said.

"The breeze is always blowing, I couldn't see the ground for a long ways down when I looked over the railing, and I walked through a cloud yesterday." Yuna drily replied.

Pryor laughed and grinned at her. "What wonderful reasoning. Congratuations. I'll let you go into the city if you like."

Yuna's face brightened. "Really?" Then she caught herself. "But there's a catch. There's always a catch."

"Since I'm quite confident there's no way for you to escape from here, I'll only require you to take Raphael with you when you go." Pryor sweetly smiled.

"Of course, milord." Yuna inclined her head.

"Wonderful." Pryor turned to Raphael. "Mistress Yuna is now allowed into the city. You are to escort her in your elven disguise."

"Yes, Lord Pryor." Raphael glowed for a moment, then settled onto the ground. His wings had disappeared and his ears were elongated and tapered to a point. His eyes weren't as blank as usual, but his face was as serene as ever.

Pryor pulled out a bag of gold and handed it to Raphael. "Mistress Yuna may get whatever she likes. She won't try to escape."

"Yes, Lord Pryor." Raphael took the gold and returned to Yuna's side. "Shall we go, Mistress Yuna?"

Yuna suppressed the urge to shiver from excitement. "Yes, let's. Until later, Lord Pryor."

"Have fun." Pryor nodded with a smile.

Once Yuna and Raphael were back inside, a halfling appeared. He was a sylph-sprite mix with solid gold eyes and translucent blue wings. "Lord Pryor?"

"Follow then, Kaelzi. Make sure Raphael doesn't get any ideas." Pryor coldly commanded, all warmth gone from his figure.

"Yes, Lord Pryor." Kaelzi bowed. He leapt into the sky, his whole body slowly changing to the color of the sky. Once he had completely adjusted, no one could see him. With a very soft buzzing from his wings, he flew off after Yuna and Raphael.

Yuna rubbed the area around her savior stone absent-mindedly. It didn't bother her, but she was still adjusting to the weight of it on her left hand. It was jade green in the likeness of a rose and a silver charm protected it.

"Where would you like to go first, mistress?" Raphael politely asked.

Yuna admired the blend of ancient past and modern present first before answering, "I feel like ice cream."

"Then, please take my arm and I'll show you where to go to." Raphael extended his arm. Yuna accepted it and they went off.

---------------------------------

"Man! Can't Yuna just stay still?" Gale complained as he, Zenos, and Antony ate ice cream at the Cream's Delight Shoppe in the marketplace. "We find the freakin' movin' city and she still doesn't stay still!"

Zenos merely grunted in response.

Antony looked at the tracker once more. "I think she's getting closer."

"What?!" the two exclaimed.

The bell on the door tinkled and Yuna stepped in, wearing a white spaghetti-strap shirt with denim jeans and sandals. A man walked in with her- an elf that looked exactly like Zenos.

"Scary. Two of Zenos? Doesn't bear thinking." Gale muttered.

Yuna noticed the three of them and her face lit up. "Gale! Zenos! Antony!"

"Yuna!" Gale jumped up and ran to his best friend. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am!" Yuna replied, then turned to Raphael. "It's okay, Raphael. These are my friends."

"How unexpected." Raphael softly said, then spotted Zenos, who looked extremely confused. Raphael cocked his head. "One of them looks exactly like me."

"I know." Yuna giggled. "Let's get our ice cream and sit down together."

"Certainly. What would you like, mistress?" Raphael asked.

"A cookies 'n' cream milkshake and a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream." Yuna dreamily requested.

As Raphael strode away, Zenos and Gale stared at Yuna like she was crazy.

"So I'm going through withdrawal. Sue me." she joined them with a glare.

"Yuna, what's going on?" Zenos hissed, taking her hand under the table.

She squeezed his hand tightly. "I can't tell you now. We've gotta figure out how to get outta here before Raphael gets back!"

At that moment, Raphael reappeared. "Here you are, Mistress Yuna."

"Thank you, Raphael." Yuna accepted it, moving over so he could sit on her other side. "Where's your ice cream?"

"You forget. I'm an angel. I require no sustenance." Raphael blankly replied.

"At least have a bite." Yuna offered him some of her ice cream.

"As you wish." Raphael obligingly took it. He placed the spoon in his mouth and staggered. As he was barraged with sudden taste and feeling, he felt an intense pain in his head.

**Flashback**

_"You're absolutely worthless, you know." _**a young Pryor smirked at six-year old Raphael as he ate his vanilla ice cream.**

**The spoon paused as Raphael replied, **_"Not according to the Eternal Swordsman's teachings." _**He finished his bite of ice cream and added, **_"Why do you say that, anyways?"_

_"Hasn't my father told you?"_ **Pryor continued smirking, then maliciously said,** **"Your father sold you to us."**

**The spoon clattered to the table as the young redhead sat, shocked. **_"But Daddy said he was just sending me here for a better edu-ma-cation."_

_"It was a lie. Your father sold you to us because you're a twin. And everyone knows twins are unnatural things." _**Pryor smirked, enjoying the young boy's pain.**

**Raphael didn't say anything right away. He looked at the floor and asked, **_"What about Zeno'?"_

**Pryor shrugged, a carefree expression on his face.**

**Raphael sat in his chair, overwhelmed with this new kind of emotion. **

_"It hurts, doesn't it?" _**Pryor whispered.**_ "I can fix that. Do you want to not feel that pain in your heart?"_

**Raphael looked at Pryor, a tear slowly trailing its way down his slightly freckled cheek.**

_"Do you?"_ **Pryor insisted.**

**Raphael closed his eyes of tears and bowed his head, remembering.**

_"Well? What's your answer?" _**Pryor demanded.**

_"...No more pain. I don't like this feeling. It hurts too much."_

**Pryor triumphantly smirked.** _"Just wait. Soon, it won't hurt anymore."_

**Raphael slowly nodded, then began to cry into the melting remnants of his ice cream.**

**End Flashback**

Raphael held his head, eyes squeezed together in pain. With a slight groan, he opened his eyes. Looking at the others, his eyes were somber sea-green pools of light. "Huh? ... What just happened?"

"Raphael, are you okay?" Yuna asked, concerned. She gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

Raphael looked at her and she was stunned by his likeness to Zenos now. "I think I remember you. You're Yuna. You're a captive under my guard."

"Wha- Raphael, are you okay?" Yuna repeated, leaning closer to him. As she did, she noticed a bulge in the hollow of his throat. "Is that-?"

She reached for his white turtleneck and pulled it down, exposing the bulge. It was an orb of gold- a Savior stone without an ounce of protection around it. Yuna exclaimed, "It's a Savior Stone!"

Zenos looked and met Raphael's eyes. "Just who are you?"

Raphael blinked, then his eyes widened. "Is your name Zenos Wylder by any chance?"

"Yes, that's me. Why?" Zenos peered closer at Raphael. Suddenly, he gave a sharp intake of breath as his mind hit him with forgotten memories.

**Flashback**

**Running feet.**

**A laugh.**

**Red hair.**

**A face that mirrored his own perfectly.**

**Tumbling black and white.**

**Another boy with red hair- a baby.**

**Blowing out four candles on a birthday cake with himself.**

**Sharing presents.**

**A flash of light.**

**Screaming.**

**Red hair dragged away by Daddy.**

**Blue hair and a little head of white.**

_"No! No! Don't take Raph'el! Mommy! Stop them!"_

**Gold hair runs by.**

_"Stop! Why are you doing this, Zatos!?"_

_"Zeno'!"_

_"Raph'el!"_

_"Twins are unnatural things! If there's only one of them, everything will be all right again!"_

_"No! Stop it, Zatos!"_

**A burst of darkness.**

_"Serena!" _**Daddy screams.**

_"She interfered with our business. Let's go, son." _**Blue hair grabs Raph'el and begins walking away**.

_"Raph'el! I'll find you!"_

_"Zeno'! Help me!"_

**He runs towards Raph'el. He falls. Raph'el's face is smothered in cloth.**

_"Raph'el!"_

_"Zeno'!!"_

**Blackness.**

**End Flashback**

Zenos and Raphael stared at each other. They pointed at each other, then mumbled, "You're my twin."

"What?!" Gale, Yuna, and even Antony exclaimed.

"It's true. I... I just remembered everything." Zenos said, numb.

Raphael looked at Zenos, then commented quietly with some amusement, "We still dress the same."

The others looked at Zenos, then Raphael. Zenos was wearing his usual black mockneck shirt and tan breeches with his hair spiked. Raphael had on a white shirt with dark blue breeches and his hair fell into his eyes. Yuna and Gale glanced at each other and Antony decided not to say anything.

Zenos shook his head, throwing off his cloud of numbness. "We gotta get out of here."

After a few seconds of thinking, Zenos declared, "This is what we're gonna do. We're gonna stage it. Yuna, you and Raphael will go by the fountain and we'll appear, then catch Raphael, who has kidnapped you. Antony will pretend to knock out Raphael and Gale will explan to the crowd that Raphael kidnapped Yuna in Asgard and we're taking him back to make sure he gets what he deserves. Then we get on our rheairds and get outta here. Agreed?"

"Sounds good to me." Gale and Yuna agreed as Antony nodded.

"We'll have to be on the lookout for Kaelzi." Raphael warned. "He's a sylph-sprite halfling that can blend into the sky, like a chameleon."

"I'll take care of him." Gale assured Raphael. "I can sense people's magics, even in their passive state."

"Okay. He's a wind mage, so knock him outta the sky and onto the ground. He only takes on the sky's color, so he'll be easy enough to finish off on the ground." Raphael added.

"Let's get out of here and do this show." Zenos stated, determindly.

The group exited the shop and split up.

They "ran" into each other in front of the designated fountain.

"Look! It's Leila!" Gale exclaimed, pointing at Yuna.

"And that scumbag! Hurry!" Zenos ran at the two 'unsuspecting" people. Yuna seemed to be struggling against Raphael's firm grip.

Zenos tackled Raphael from behind. Raphael had morphed into his elven disguise, except with bright orange hair. "You filthy man! Thought you get away with our Leila?!"

"You! Agh!" Raphael "hit" Zenos with a blow to his eye and knocked him away. Zenos landed in the fountain with a splash. Raphael sprang up and started to run, but Antony was blocking the way. With a good solid "punch" to the stomach, Antony knocked Raphael unconscious.

"Ryan! Drew, Jamie!" Yuna hugged Gale as she sobbed, "You found me!"

"Of course we did." Zenos staggered up to her, sopping wet, and embraced her as well.

By now, of course, the crowd was quite curious.

"Don't worry everyone. We have everything under control. This guy kidnapped our friend when we were in Asgard on a trip, but we've found him! We're going to take him back to Asgard to make sure he gets the justice he deserves!" Gale bound an unconscious Raphael with a metal pair of handcuffs.

Zenos picked up the perpetrator and they walked off, the crowd dissipating.

They reached a rheaird field swiftly and were able to leave right away, courtesy of their little act by the fountain.

Once they were in the air and a good distance away, flying relatively low, Gale stretched an arm as he muttered to himself, then cried, **"****Lighting****!"**

A shriek of pain was heard off to their left as a piece of the sky fell to the ground 50 yards below the entourage. Muttering furiously, Gale finished Kaelzi with a shout of, "**Grave**!"

The sky on the ground gave several loud cries of pain. He was cut off rather abruptly when the last spike of earth drove through him.

"That takes care of that." Gale gave a grim nod.

"Let's stop somewhere soon." Yuna requested from behind Zenos.

"Sure. Look, Luin's coming up." Zenos said.

"Great! Can I get un-unconscious now?" Raphael asked in a muffled voice from his slumped position behind Antony.

"Yup." Zenos chuckled at his twin.

With a tremendous stretch, Raphael sat up and changed back to his human form.

They landed in Luin and walked into the town, Gale groaning, "Food! Food! Foooooodddd!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Yuna sighed. "Where's that Water's Rest that we went to last time? That place was awesome."

Glancing around, Gale spotted it. He happily cried, "It's over there!" He started to run to it; however, he ran straight into someone with red hair.

"Ow!"

"Jeez, watch where you're going- Gale?" Zach said, surprised.

"Zach!" Gale grinned.

"Ena!" Yuna cried.

"Yuna!" Ena hugged her.

"Zenos!" Zach jogged to his brother.

"Zach!" Zenos ruffled his little brother's hair affectionately.

"Zach?" Raphael blinked.

"Zenos?" Zach looked at Raphael, confused.

"Raphael?" Ena cocked her head.

"Ena?" Raphael looked shocked.

"Gale!" Gale shouted.

"WAIT!" Yuna shouted.

"What's going on?!" Zach demanded. "Did you get cloned to something, Zenos?"

"I'm so confused." Lucas appeared.

"Lucas?" The group said collectively.

"What?!" Lucas wailed, "What's happening?!"

"Everyone's repeating each other's names and not even really trying to find out what's occuring." Antony monotonously informed him.

"Oh."

----------------------------------------------------

**Well, guys, there it is! I had fun writing this one. (insert evil laugh here) **

**I do think I'm gonna poll the readers on this question, though. Should Raphael stay with the group or should he go back to Pryor and act as a double agent? I'm torn because I don't want to take Raphael away from Zenos so quickly! That would be so mean! **

**Oh, and whoever can figure out the secret code between Yuna and Ryu gets a special prize. I haven't decided what yet, though. **

**And I've seriously got to stop coming up with these OCs! I'm gonna be like Freakyanimegal456 before long. --;; Too many OCs, I mean. I like her stories. **

**So, don't worry. I've already started on Chapter 13 and it'll be up soon, hopefully. We're just about out of school! Yes!**

**Read and review, please!**

**Ethereal Thoughts**


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